Besides the satisfaction of seeing our words published, what other basic characteristic might writers have in common? Hint: it makes publication possible. Annie Dillard lays it out for us in her book, The Writing Life, when she relays a mini-story of a fellow writer who had a student who asked, “Do you think I could be a writer?” “Well,” the writer said, “do you like sentences?” We don’t find out what the student thought or did after that answer, but … Read More »

Our main characters need to be people our readers can relate to, admire, or even aspire to be like. On the other hand, if we go too far we risk creating a Mary Sue or Marty Stu. Mary and Marty are unrealistically gifted, universally loved, movie star handsome or beautiful, amazingly talented, wonderfully wealthy, unbelievably lucky, the stuff of daydreams. To be believable, even the most relatable character needs to have some personal flaws, some things they aren’t good at, … Read More »

Is your protagonist a surly recluse, a man or woman of few words, a guy with a drinking problem and an attitude? That describes a lot of lead characters in mystery novels. Still, like the rest of us, your antisocial hero /heroine needs somebody to talk to. Invariably students in my novel writing courses wanted to open their first chapters with detailed biographies and lengthy physical descriptions of their protagonist. It’s tempting. Once you’ve got all that background information out … Read More »

While a novel set in the past is fiction and has a right to present imaginary events and personages, it is not (normally) fantasy, and thus certain standards of authenticity must be observed. Otherwise, it moves into the category of alternative history. Different readers will obviously bring differing standards of expectations to this issue, but it seems worthwhile for us writers to consider what our own standards are. Because authenticity makes historical fiction a doubly demanding genre: a historical novel … Read More »

Got a story you’re itching to get out, but worried there’s not enough material to turn it into a full-length novel for adults? Consider following the lead of Jackie Minniti and her novel Jacqueline, written for middle grade readers. It’s the simple, straightforward tale of a little girl in France during the Second World War. The story relates the fictionalized account of her father’s experience there as an American GI. Jacqueline’s family clings together, her own father missing in the … Read More »

“Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of writing.” Perhaps Bernard Malamud’s quote is overstating it, but revision is certainly where the hard work of writing takes place. And it can be overwhelming. Everything from the flow of the story arc to the grammar and spelling checks are done during this stage of the process. While trying to do a revision for every aspect of the story at once can be overwhelming, focusing on one small area can be a … Read More »