On the Power of Literature to Transform Others
Stories can do a lot of things. We use them often to entertain others, sometimes to elevate mood, but sometimes we use them to teach and transform. Indeed, if a story is merely entertaining, if it doesn’t have some deeper meaning, then I often feel that it is a bit lightweight. When judging stories for […]
The Loneliness Problem
I often look for similarities in great stories to see what works. One aspect 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 miserly old man in a musty house. Harry Potter has […]
Fixating on a Story
Remember when you were young and your mother or father read a favorite story to you over and over? Or do you recall that one book or movie that you wanted to read or watch again and again? Most people have a few all-time favorites. As a toddler, for me it was “Jack and the […]
Getting the Niggling Details Right
Ernest Hemingway sometimes compared writing to a boxing match, and in a certain sense he was right. Whenever you step into a boxing ring, there’s an excellent chance that you’re going to get punched. In the same way, whenever you write a story, there’s someone who figures you need a beating. It might be a […]
Three Mistakes in Tone
One of the most common problems I see with new writers is a mistake in tone. You know what I mean if you’ve ever played in a band. A new kid comes in, you’re trying to play a song, and he blats out a sour note on a trumpet. The same thing happens in writing. […]
Trading Up on Your Problems
A lot of people who want to become professional writers think that once you become a writer, you don’t have any problems. But any writer knows that we really do have our own set of problems. Becoming a full-time writer doesn’t solve all of your problems, you just trade up for new ones. Who knew […]
You and Your Dumb Ideas
A writer contacted me a couple of days ago to ask if I would read and critique a screenplay. In looking at his query letter, it was obvious to me for a host of reasons that making this particular movie would be a bad idea. No studio in Hollywood would touch it. The audience for […]
Waiting to be Discovered
Are you waiting to be discovered? All of us writers are. Maybe you’re a new writer hoping for praise from a writing group. If so, you’re waiting to be discovered. Or maybe you’re a first-time novelist waiting to hear back from an agent, or an old pro like me hoping to make a big movie […]
Showing, Telling, Making
New writers are often told, “Show, don’t tell.” Normally this piece of advice is given when a writer gives a vague description. He might say, “Rhonda looked tired.” A good reader will wonder about that. There are varying degrees of tiredness. Does the writer mean that the character had a blank expression on her face, […]
Cross the Finish Line
You may not know it, but you’re a racehorse. If you look at writers from a publisher’s point of view, that’s exactly what you are. You’re someone who writes glorious novels, and if you want to make a name for yourself, you’ll do it frequently—once a year or more. If you want to have publishers […]