Decoding Author Voice
And of all the many elements of craft authors must master, voice is the one I think can be the…
Writing craft
Leave Room for the Happy Accidents
If you’d like to receive my blog in your in-box each week, click here. My husband and I are different types…
Don’t Be Afraid to Go Big
Don’t be afraid to try things–even things that may seem far, far out of the box. You’re not always writing…
How Do You Create Value in a Newsletter?
Advice to authors to create a newsletter is ubiquitous, and the reasons are generally solid. It’s a direct line of…
Revealing Other Characters’ Inner Life
Stories aren’t primarily about the facts; they’re about the feelings—not just your characters’ emotions, but all of their inner life:…
Using Formula without Being Formulaic
Most creatives don’t set out to regurgitate remade versions of stories that have been told before. We want to boldly…
The Trick to Writing Compelling Inner Life
Probably the comment I give most often in a writer’s manuscript is some variation of, “Let the reader in a…
Are You Neglecting a Powerful Tool in Your Writer’s Toolbox?
People-watching is some of the most instructive work we can do for creating richly and fully developed characters on the…
Relationships, Character, and the Unexpressed Longing
Unspoken desires are so often at the root of what may seem like arguments, misunderstandings, and conflict—and it’s a powerful…
Understanding Evil Characters (and Writing Them Real)
So many stories in some way deal with the conflict between good and evil. As authors we’re urged to find…