It’s that time of year again: the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, the pool is beckoning, and you are…stuck inside, trying to make progress on your latest draft. Sigh. We all know that writing is notoriously difficult during summer—which is partly why we tend to concentrate our creative efforts during fall and winter… Read more »
As writers, we joke that writing is giving birth to a story and that our characters are our children. Editing, therefore, is a traumatic event in the life of something we deeply love. As we edit, we experience a flurry of thoughts and feelings. In one moment, we berate ourselves for our mistakes. In the… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Patrice Gopo on the show! The daughter of Jamaican immigrants who was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Patrice is a personal essayist and often writes about topics of race, immigration, and belonging. Her essays have appeared in numerous publications including Catapult and… Read more »
Think about the time you spend researching before the first word of your novel finds its place in chapter one. Sometimes, after adding up the hours I spent researching, I had actually spent more time pre-writing than the total writing hours of my completed manuscript. If you set your romance novel in an unfamiliar time… Read more »
My next few articles will act as a deep dive into specific short form works. We’ll examine a piece from each short form and dive deep into its inner workings to find the path to success in our own short form pieces. Flash is one of my not-so-secret literary short forms loves. I love it… Read more »
Storytelling language can go by many names, especially when it comes to major plot points: point of no return, external and internal conflicts, stakes, etc. One of the most well-known terms defines a moment essential for every story. It comes at the very end of your middle act and pushes your Lead into a new… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I have the absolute pleasure of hosting Jon Land on the show! You may remember Jon from a previous episode where he took part in a round table interview live from last year’s ThrillerFest along with two other bestselling thriller authors: Lisa Gardner and Karin Slaughter. Today though he’s here… Read more »
Myths and legends are rich resources for writers. It’s undeniable. But before you head out to write yet another take on Arthur and the valiant knights of the round table, or Robin Hood, or the Greek, Roman, or Norse gods, it might be interesting to dig a little further into the myths and legends that… Read more »
In the summer of 2017, I attended ThrillerFest—the International Thriller Writers annual conference. A senior editor from Publishers Weekly (PW) was interviewed during one of the luncheons. He offered insights on the magazine’s book review process. I began to wonder what it would be like to review books for the publication, to have the privilege… Read more »
Have you noticed we’ve been revisiting the theme of family lately? It’s for good reason, though. Our original case study on family introduced the theme and how it can be explored in stories. Then our more recent posts have investigated it further, and from different angles. If each post were to represent one of the… Read more »
