When Gabriela interviewed me for a DIY MFA podcast two years ago, one of the questions she asked was, “What are some of the themes of your writing life?” At first my mind went blank. I’d never thought about my writing life from a big-picture perspective before. But the more I considered my writing career… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I am delighted to have author Zinzi Clemmons on the show! Zinzi’s gorgeous debut novel, What We Lose, has already taken the literary world by storm establishing her as a strong new voice to watch. Raised in the Philadelphia suburbs by a South African mother and American father, Zinzi has… Read more »
I’s fair to say, without tension, there is no romance. There is tension in love. The very word attraction in physics is a force drawing objects together. A force. An interest. Evoking desire. To be attracted to someone implies a longing or a needing to be around that person. This means whenever they are not… Read more »
In my neck of the woods, it’s fall–time for flannel shirts, warm apple cider and reading up on my craft. Yes, that’s right, I’ll be reading rather than writing more. I prefer to throw myself into a more grueling writing schedule during January when there’s six inches of snow on the ground and a wind… Read more »
The most hurtful critique I ever received came from a well-meaning uncle who, after reading my first published novel, spent an hour on the phone picking it apart. The first thing I did after hanging up was to yell a few choice words I can’t repeat here. Unfortunately, as soon as I finished yelling I… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! In today’s episode I bring you again live to ThrillerFest 2017! This time I’ve assembled a panel of authors all published by Quercus books and who all start their very different books with a bang. I am so excited to be speaking with Adam Hamdy, K.J. Howe, and Sam Wiebe, and… Read more »
Writing is fraught. You worry about your imagination. You worry about your writing ability. You descend into navel gazing. “Is my writing engaging enough? Are my ideas interesting enough to hold a reader’s interest? Does my idea have enough substance to be a poem, short story, novel?” It all starts to spin out of control…. Read more »
Every character in a story is important, even minor ones. Actually, especially minor ones. When written well, they advance plot and/or develop a major character. If they’re not, well…we’ll get to that later. But first, I’d like to discuss three simple ways minor characters make a story. Pay close attention, and you might learn the… Read more »
Many writers, including myself, struggle with the idea of a ‘writing practice’. All I desire is to share my writing with the world, publish my novel, and hopefully earn enough in the interim to ward off malnutrition. Simple, right? If only! If you are anything like me, you’ve spent too many unfocused hours at a… Read more »
The Hero’s Journey is everywhere in writing craft circles. Steven Pressfield and his editor Shawn Coyne use it. Donald Maass refers to it. It’s mentioned in the Writing Excuses and The Writing Files podcasts. DIY MFA instigator Gabriela Pereira talks about it and some of the character archetypes derived from it in her book and… Read more »
