Hey, Author! Your age is showing.
If an author is trained in the craft of fiction writing, their story will be written the voice of the protagonist–or the current POV character. Mastering POV and voice means…
Why Your Hero has to “Pet the Puppy”
In my writing workshop, I teach a class on creating dynamic characters. The first thing I teach about the the protagonist is that he/she has to “pet the puppy” in…
Diversity in Casting Your Characters
Face it, unless you’re an author-of-color, you probably don’t give much thought about the ethnicity of your characters unless it’s an integral part of your plot. But like Hollywood, you…
Tips and Tricks for your Final Edit
Okay, so you have three weeks before you have to turn in your novel to the publisher (or upload it, if you’re self-publishing). It’s tough to read the entire manuscript…
As If!
No, we’re not talking about Valley Girl vernacular. Many writers get this wrong, including me, so I wanted to post it so we could all remember this simple rule. A…
A Dark Age for Artists
You may think the digital age has created a renaissance for art. In some ways, it has. Artists can share their work with so many more people. We now have…
Writing in Order
I recently read a short story that began: I looked out my apartment window through the Venetian blinds down at a street full of shadows. Do you see what’s wrong…
Creating Worlds
Here is a great video by author Kate Messner on building fictional worlds:
Book Review: Twitter for Writers
Everyone claims to be a Social Networking Guru. Seems like a perfect dream job, right? Sit around and play on Facebook and Twitter all day long. But most people really…