Our modern media is awash with reboots, adaptations, and re-imaginings, which means that we’ve become very familiar with origin stories involving characters that we already know. While many of these stories are perfectly serviceable, let’s take the opportunity to examine some of the potential issues Read More …
Years ago, while attending a writing conference as an instructor, I was approached by another writer who asked me what my writing process is. I obligingly described my nightly writing routine as well as giving a few details on my writing goals and how I Read More …
A couple of months ago, I posted a single question in several Facebook groups for writers and authors with a total membership of over 780,000. My question was this: “What would convince you to buy a book from an author you’ve never heard of?” The Read More …
Whether you’re a young, budding writer or an older, experienced author, reading is an essential part of your craft. Reading is a critical habit to form as a writer and cultivate your empathy as a human being. A Discover Magazine’s article on reading notes how consuming books Read More …
I am not an organized writer. I rarely have a detailed plan before I start a story, and what little pre-planning I do have is almost never written down. But even as an organic writer (I resent the term ‘pantser’) I can see the advantages Read More …
Too often, the concept of “good writing” for prose fiction is overly simplified by well-meaning industry professionals. For example, I once attended a workshop on how to write setting description. During the presentation, the presenter gave multiple examples of lengthy, image-heavy scene description. Her implication Read More …
As a parent, one of the many pleasures that I enjoy is sharing movies with my children that were formative building blocks in my own childhood. Recently, I decided to introduce them to Bedknobs and Broomsticks from 1971, a magic-infused musical film attempting to rediscover Read More …
This may be a personal preference, but whenever I’m browsing through novels at an author event, I’ll usually open to a few random pages and look for some dialogue. Generally, if I can’t find any dialogue at all, I’ll put the book back down, since Read More …
