Most of you are familiar with plot charts. You’ve heard of terms like inciting incident, try/fail cycles, climax, and denouement. (If you aren’t familiar with those terms, you might want to look at my book Million Dollar Outlines.) Since the days of Aristotle, folks have been trying to understand how
How fast do you write? Why? Have you ever asked yourself this? Many writers feel bad because they are too slow, but how fast you write depends on a number of factors. For example, a part of your speed of composition depends on something as mechanical as typing speed. I
Years ago while I was writing some little Star Wars books for Scholastic, my editor, David Levithan called and said that his boss loved my work, so she wanted to know if I would be willing to look at some novels and help them pick a book to push big
For many authors, our fear of failure dissuades us from writing. I believe that this is the source of most “writer’s block.” An author is unsure how to compose an upcoming scene, or needs a little brainstorm time to think about a character, or is just filled with nagging worries
One reader asked me to discuss a bit about what I call “grounding” the reader. Quite simply, grounding is the fine art of letting the reader know what is going on. You need to focus on some basics: Who is in a scene? Where does it take place? What is
A while ago I promised to tell you why I reject good stories when I’m reading for Writers of the Future. So let’s talk about those stories that get an Honorable Mention. Right now on my computer, I have a story up. I’ve read the first two pages, and although
Let’s face it, many writers actually avoid writing. In fact, I know lots of writers who have given up completely, but they all seem to do it in different ways. Some writers stop writing by “courting the muse.” They may wander to foreign countries while spending years researching a novel,
Here is a question from a fellow writer: “Writing is hard, even when you sit down with a good plan based on good advice. An infant story can go anywhere with just a few keystroke decisions. So my question is, how do I find the one story that tells itself?
As a new writer, you may not be able to imagine why anyone would want to hack you. After all, you’re a small-fry, a one-person business. But as your fan base grows and you gain more notoriety, you will attract the attention of hackers. It’s in the news a lot
Writers love to gossip about editors, agents, and publishers. Much 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
Many new authors will open a tale by telling us about their character: “Johnny Appleseed was a nice little kid with red hair and freckles.” They may want to tell us about how he loves to ride his bike around town and terrorize bluebirds and cats with his slingshot, how
This past week I’ve been judging Writers of the Future. Most of the stories come to us electronically, so much of my day is spent opening files, taking a look at them, and then putting in a review–usually one that says “Rejected.” I hate that “Reject” button, and I may
Often while looking at the scenes a new writer creates, I take a look and think, Well, that’s pretty lame. So how do you avoid writing lame scenes? First, you need to brainstorm every scene. There are a few common questions that need to be answered in each one. Who
Lately I’ve heard a lot of people grousing about cultural appropriation. That’s where an author writes a story set in a world that he or she isn’t a part of. For example, it happens when an author decides quite innocently, “I think I’ll write a story about a gay black
In brainstorming a work, you will often find that you want your characters to behave in certain ways. And as they grow and develop, you may even find that you need to justify why they do what they do. If you get deep enough into their thought processes, you can
Wait, before you go…
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