Excerpt from The Magic of Fiction—Middle Chapters

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Excerpt from The Magic of Fiction—Showcasing the Setting

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Excerpt from The Magic of Fiction—The First Draft

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Pile on frustrations for your characters; see what they’re made of. Give characters reasons to act up and act out.

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Treat readers the way a chef treats his favorite customers—give them the good stuff, prepared with their tastes in mind. Make each story, beginning to end, a tasty one.

Continue reading Engage Readers—Feed Them Tasty Fiction »

Take a lesson from a review of the newest Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens—give readers more than the expected.

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Tips for spelling compound words—open, closed, and hyphenated compounds. The Chicago Manual of Style has a great section on spelling compound words.

Continue reading Compound Words—Using This Cheat Sheet is Not Cheating »

Conflict moves a story forward, keeping both characters and readers involved. Consider the ultimate conflict—betrayal by a friend—as a way to amp up the conflict in your fiction.

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Tips for using beta readers to help strengthen your manuscripts before publication or submission to agents and editors.

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Taking tips from the series finale of Mad Men.

Continue reading Lesson from Mad Men Finale—It’s the Real Thing »