Focus—What’s This Story About?

A story can’t be about everything and everyone; there must be focus. Direct characters and readers by pointing them where you want them to go and cut out everything that distracts or doesn’t belong.

Continue reading Focus—What’s This Story About? »

There is not only one way to write a sentence, a scene, a chapter, or a story. Writing a novel isn’t only about plugging in words and events and scenes in accordance with a formula. It’s writing with skill and artistry.

Continue reading Novel Writing Isn’t Paint by Numbers »

There’s a lot of contention concerning narrative tense—should stories always be told using the past tense or is present tense a true option.

Continue reading Narrative Tense—Right Now or Way Back Then »

Readers bring perceptions to every novel. Put those perceptions to work for you rather than allowing them to annoy your readers.

Continue reading Reader Perception is Important »

Readers can get really ticked off when you use coincidence to solve story problems. They are pulled out of the fiction and made aware that you’ve been fooling them.

Continue reading Coincidence Destroys the Suspension of Disbelief »

Many modern writers are discouraged from using adverbs. But adverbs have their uses. And no part of speech should be banned from the writer’s toolkit.

Continue reading What About Adverbs—A Reader’s Question »

Apparently some in the writing community think semicolons have no place in fiction. But all punctuation has a purpose and can be put to use in novels and short stories.

Continue reading Punctuation in Fiction—Are There Prohibitions? »

Ramp up story conflict by repeatedly denying characters what they want or need.

Continue reading Deny, Deny, Deny »

Give your main character a tour de force moment where he reveals his true personality and all the needs and fears he’s been repressing and stuffing deep for a lifetime.

Continue reading Character Rants and Breakdowns—Let ‘em Rip »

Use celebrations and holidays in your stories to make characters real, to tap into emotional moments in a character’s life.

Continue reading Celebrations in Story—Marking the Special Days »