One of the most difficult concepts for aspiring authors occurs when you bounce around from one character’s perspective to another, revealing the inner thoughts and feelings of multiple characters, without a proper scene break or clear signal. When you ping-pong back and […]
Writers are notorious for their love of words. Because of this, we have a hard time targeting certain words as enemies. If you don’t take the time to dig deep in your manuscript, searching for enemy words, you risk weakening your story. […]
What Does “Show, Don’t Tell” Mean? Good writing tends to draw an image in the reader’s mind instead of just telling the reader what to think or believe. Here’s a sentence that tells: Mr. Jeffries was a fat, ungrateful old man. That […]
Writing constructively sounds simple enough, but the truth is, writing is tough. If the craft were easy, everyone would be doing it. This isn’t to say bad storytelling doesn’t exist because we’ve all come across terribly written stories. As an author, it’s […]
For those of you who enjoyed Stone Cold, the next one in the series, Minutes to Midnight, is in the works. Now if I could only find my notes. Have you seen them? I need to quit blinking and finish my latest […]
Many people have a deep desire to write a novel but just can’t seem to get it done. Here are six tips that should help. 1. “Where do I begin my story?” This is the most common question I get from new […]
Figuring out how to get stuff done as a writer can be the most frustrating part of the writing. We all have personal weaknesses that draw our focus away, wasting valuable time. Sometimes, it’s more helpful to put our focus into short […]
As I sit in my favorite chair, drinking coffee and working on my current novel, I realize I’m truly blessed. Although this year has been challenging, I have a loving family, great friends, and a supportive writers group, albeit online for the […]
Are you in the process of writing a novel? Crime or suspense thriller? Or some other popular fiction you hope will grab readers attention? Besides a great character and a fascinating plot, you need to keep readers engaged and eagerly turning the […]
A writer I’ve known for years asked me about an interesting topic. Why do readers abandon a book they’ve started? This is a great question and topic for discussion because I’m sure most, if not all writers have asked this very question. […]