A Velcro Moment is a bit of writing that sticks with a reader. Velcro, you probably know, is a strip of fabric with tiny “hooks” that “mate” with another fabric strip that has smaller loops. These strips attach to each other, until pulled apart. (Thank you, Wikipedia.) Isn’t Velcro a perfect image to illustrate readers getting hooked on your writing? How do we make our writing unforgettable? National Book Award winner, Barry Lopez, offered gems of advice about this a … Read More »

I used to watch the decorating shows on HGTV. One of the principles I learned was “If you can’t hide it, make it a feature.” An ugly, useless old chimney would cost too much to tear down. So they painted it suitably, filled the fireplace with candles, and mounted the flat screen TV on it. Sometimes our stories include awkward facts that a mass audience won’t understand and believe right away. I recently read a novel that featured a set … Read More »

Here’s me staring at a blank computer screen. You guessed it. I’m starting the first chapter of a new novel. Since I write historical mystery and this will be the 5th in the series, I know my protagonist well. That puts me a step ahead. However, since this novel is set in a new locale, I’ll need to do research. The advantage of writing historical fiction is that you get the fun of imagining yourself in a different time and … Read More »

Dialogue can be tricky for many writers. The way we talk and the way we think doesn’t always look right on the page. New writers often struggle creating dialogue that doesn’t sound stilted, forced, or just plain weird. When I first started writing, I was terrible at dialogue. It sounded unnatural, it went on too long, and I wasn’t sure of the rules of formatting. So I started paying attention to the dialog I read, I practiced it by using … Read More »

We’ve all experienced a high school teacher or college professor expounding on a given story’s “theme.” Those with a sense of the bigger picture can more easily parse a novel-length story into its theme(s) than the rest of us. Occasionally debates break out regarding the central theme of a novel or whether a novel is “literary” only if there’s a clear and well-supported theme on which all elements of the story hang. I subscribe to the theory that while a … Read More »

Among all the problems of authenticity the conscientious writer of historical fiction must face is the one I call the Problem of the Plucky Heroine. By this, I mean a character who is out of character for his or (more frequently) her times. Whose values are strangely modern. Who is, in short, an anachronism, probably designed to attract the modern reader. Is this really a problem, or is it a legitimate way to engage readers who want to read about … Read More »