Be Honest
A story needs to be honest. Now, that isn’t quite the same as saying that a story must be true. Obviously when we are writing fiction, we are basically telling lies in order to enlighten and entertain. So fiction stories aren’t true. Yet in order for a story to work, there must be a good […]
Be Imaginative
Artist Zaria Forman, source: The Daily Mail I judge stories for the world’s largest fantasy and science fiction writing contest. When I’m judging, the first thing that I look for is a great idea, a great concept. I search for something original. The most common failure in a story is a failure of imagination. You […]
The Truth About Writer’s Block
Some authors never get “Writer’s Block,” and they don’t believe that it exists. They’ll blithely say, “Do doctors ever get ‘Doctor’s block,’ or do plumbers ever get ‘plumber’s block’?” and they think that they’ve just scored a point. If you had asked me ten years ago, I would have told you much the same. The […]
Audience Analysis: Part One
How to get to know your audience As a new writer, you might not have given a great deal of thought to audience analysis. I’ve known good writers who don’t seem to understand it at all. For example, one #1 New York Times Bestselling fantasy author right now insists that he doesn’t write fantasy. He […]
Dream Big
You may not realize it, but as writers we are all on the same journey. We all start as “wannabes,” hoping to amaze audiences with our eloquence and powerful tales, and so we set out on a quest to become “writers.” Some of us take only a few steps along the path before we give […]
The Author Must Say Something!
What story treasures do you have buried deep inside of you? When the author has nothing to say. Very often as a reader, I’ll come across a story that is well written in many regards: the author has written characters that have strong voices, the setting is energetically created, and the action progresses in a […]