Escalate Your Story
Every story consists of a character with a problem and deals with his or her attempts to resolve that problem. This happens in several phases. In phase 1, the character recognizes that he has a problem–a big problem, one that will change his life. In phase 2, the character tries to resolve the problem and […]
Considering Crucibles
In everyday life, a crucible is a container used to hold metal or liquid as it boils. For example, to melt gold, one takes a heavy bowl made from steel and sets it in a fire. The steel, which can withstand higher temperatures than gold, doesn’t melt. But the small container quickly becomes super-heated, so […]
Powerful Openings
The world is full of possibilities, but unless you push yourself, struggle to drive your story to its limits, you will never make real discoveries. You won’t glean the insights that your story needs to take it from the mundane to the sublime.
Defining Yourself
I’m going to talk a bit about audience analysis. It’s always good before you begin to write to really understand who your audience is and what they’re needs are so that you can better meet those needs. But it’s also important to understand who you are as an author, and what it is that you […]
The Loneliness Problem
I often look for similarities in great stories to see what works. One “conflict” that I see very often is that powerful stories resolve “the loneliness problem.” Normally, we are never told that our protagonist is lonely, but it’s there in the background: Scrooge is a miserly old man in a musty house. Harry Potter […]
Why Write Every Day?
It’s hard starting a story cold, as many of you have found when you try to write a novel. You know that you want to write, but sometimes it just won’t come. So you sit at your computer and do nothing. I think I understand why this is, but let me first illustrate the problem: […]
Investing In You
My dream of writing came to life when I was in my teens. I had read Lord of the Rings two or three times in rapid succession and then began reading any other fantasy I could find, along with a good deal of science fiction—stories that I call “Wonder literature.” I lived a long way […]
Ending Your Novel
How To Write book series
Busting Your Editor’s Chops
Writers love to gossip about editors, agents, and publishers. Most of the time, that gossip is pretty harmless, but sometimes it can come back to bite you. I was reminded of this over the past week when I read a Facebook post by a young woman who had had a story rejected for an anthology. […]
Don’t Get Too Excited
Every year when the Hugo and Nebula Awards are announced, I see a pattern: A young writing student of mine (or three) will get nominated for a major award, then go completely off the rails. When I say that they “go off the rails,” I mean that one of several things happen: First off, they […]