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
David Farland
April 27, 2015
David Farland: Story Doctor Writing Tips
Recent Writing Tips
Fixating on a Story
What Does “Fixating” Mean? Remember when you were young and your mother or father read a favorite story to you over and over? Or do
David Farland
March 23, 2015
Using Precise Language in Your Writing
Using Precise Language Once a quarter I read through thousands of stories for a writing contest—a job that usually takes several weeks. It would take
David Farland
March 20, 2015
Opening Strategies
There are many ways to hook a reader who opens your book–a great cover, a catchy title, luscious descriptions on the back cover, an endearing
David Farland
March 13, 2015
Emotional and Intellectual Payoff
Some stories gain power by tapping into the emotions that we felt at a particular age, or during a certain time of our lives. For
David Farland
March 9, 2015
Writing Characters
Of all the topics on how to write, I suspect more books have been written on how to create solid characters than on anything else. So there are a lot of great resources out there on how to create characters, and I can’t even touch on every topic that I would like in the space of an article this short.
David Farland
March 6, 2015
Recognizing Your Own Skill As a Writer
When you write a story, you often have to ask yourself, “Is this tale good enough to send to editors or agents? Is it ready to publish? Could it be a bestseller?” Oddly enough, you as the author may be a terrible judge of your own work.
David Farland
March 2, 2015
When Conventional Wisdom Goes Astray
The writing world is changing quickly… …and that means some things that used to be taboo are now all right. For example, a couple of
David Farland
February 27, 2015
Plots
A plot doesn’t have to be brilliant for a story to work. It just needs to have some basic components: characters—in conflict and in a
David Farland
February 23, 2015
Update on Rachel Ann Nunes Case
#DailyKick—Update on Rachel Ann Nunes Case A few months ago I began to track the case of Rachel Ann Nunes, whose clean romance novel was
David Farland
February 11, 2015
Resolutions
David Farland’s Writing Tips — Resolutions I hate the word “resolute.” Whenever I think of it, I think of soldiers circa 1800, marching resolutely into
David Farland
December 29, 2014
David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants—Taking Responsibility for Your Author Photo and Biography
As an author, your appearance matters far more than it should. If you look at people who are New York Times Bestselling Authors, you’ll note that the
Ben Wolverton
August 12, 2012
The 5 Parts to a Story
From the inciting incident to try/fail cycles, reversals the climax and denouement, there are certain critical elements to a modern work of literature that must be done well, and in order, to be publishable today.
David Farland
January 26, 2012
Writing the Perfect Story, Part 10
What do you think is perfect? For the past few days I’ve been talking about some of the virtues that I personally think need to
David Farland
August 19, 2009
Writing a Perfect Story, Part 9
I’ve been working on a series of articles on what constitutes a perfect story, and so far I’ve concentrated on some of the qualities that
David Farland
August 9, 2009
