Make the Bookstores Your Partners
Most authors have no idea how to sell books, and I’m always interested in new techniques. Earlier this year, the folks at Bridge Publications re-released the classic post-apocalyptic novel Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard and were faced with a challenge: How do you push a book that is a re-release? In the world of […]
The Man Who Learned Better
It has been said that there are only a few types of stories—the “boy meets girl,” “the hero journey,” etc. One of the most popular types is “the man who learned better.” It’s a story about character growth and change, and indeed some would argue that in every kind of fiction, character growth is an […]
Writing the Perfect Story, Part 2
Earlier, I talked about one attribute that the perfect story will display—honesty. You can’t layer a tale with a thin veneer of factoids and give it the verisimilitude that it needs to be a “perfect” story. Nor can you skimp on your plotting and characterization and hope to arouse a stunning emotional response. Today I […]
Handling Multiple Viewpoints
When you’re writing a novel, you will find that if you stick to only one point of view, it can be rather stifling. The problem becomes that your protagonist must always be doing something interesting—fighting the good fight, running from villains, solving crimes, falling in and out of love, and so on. Not only does […]
Great Ideas
As a judge for one of the world’s largest writing contests, I’m often asked, “What are you looking for?” The truth is, I’m looking for three things. I want a story based upon an interesting idea, one with a well-formed plot, and one that is beautifully written. Let’s talk a bit about ideas, and I’ll […]
Writing a Bestselling Series, Chapter 18: Going to Hollywood
Among novelists, there is a saying: Don’t go to Hollywood. It seems to be something of a graveyard where authors go to die. But every year, a few young novelists go to seek their fortune there—and most are never heard from again Part of the problem is that most of the authors go to Hollywood […]
The Key to Making Your Book Better than the Movie
You’ve all experienced this: you went to a movie that was based on a book, and on the way out of the theater you heard the comments from others: “Oh, the book was soooo much better!” There are two reasons why this is almost always true: The book is far more immersive than the film. It allows […]
Heroes and Anti-heroes
When you’re writing a novel, you may create a protagonist who is “heroic,” or one who is an “anti-hero.” But do you know the difference between the two? A heroic character is typically likeable. That means that he is often in pain—perhaps both physically and emotionally scarred. He also cares deeply about others, enough that […]
Dreadful Hesitations
One of my mentors, the wonderful author and teacher Algis Budrys, wrote an article called “Writing to the Point.” It’s one of the most brilliant and pointed articles on writing that I’ve ever seen, and for new authors, it is well worth reading. I was delighted to find recently that Wordfire Press has reprinted it. In […]
Writing a Bestselling Series, Chapter 17: A Few Lessons Learned
After I finished my first series, I still found that I had a lot to learn. As a reader, I’ve always enjoyed long books. I loved to immerse myself in a good fantasy or science-fiction series, especially ones with fascinating worlds, but I found that being a reader of those novels and a writer of […]