Mastering the Fabulous “F-Word” in Fiction

Not to worry… it’s NOT what you think is.  If that F-word offends and you’re just about to click off… don’t.  There are serious writing principles at work here.  Career-making stuff, in fact. Not that I wasn’t tempted to go all snarky and positively puntastique.  But when I realized how these words not only reflect […]

Shot Putting and the Art of Story Maintenance

This is a tale of three writers, each with a story they think is good enough to find a publisher.  It is told, analogously, through the story of three athletes who think they are good enough to make an Olympic team.  Even if that’s not your thing, the point at hand should be. The athletes […]

From Idea to Fully Viable Story Plan… in One Blog Post

Just Possibly a Save-Your-NaNoWriMo Strategy… … or any other story you’re working on. I offer the following to illustrate the power of story planning and writing in context to mission-driven story architecture… and to demonstrate that it CAN be done. In this case, in 32 minutes. The result is, conceivably, a workable story plan that […]

The Killer Three-Headed Story Beast

It might actually be you.  Hopefully it is. Sounds kinda silly-scary, I know.  But this is a good thing.  Because you need to be of three minds – three heads – before you become a fully realized, successful author. Even if you just get lucky, in that moment of kismet you will have been of […]

A Two Hour Story Clinic for the Price of a Movie Ticket

We practice story craft in the pursuit of… what?  Excellence, of course.  But what does that mean?  What makes a story excellent?  It’s not craft… craft is the means, the pursuit, the toolchest.  This craft-excellence-craft circle becomes a paradox until we understand what the goal is, what actually makes a story work.  And that answer […]

What I’ve Learned About Writing in the Last Six Months

Sometimes, with our head down and our focus impervious to anything short of an earthquake, we forget to look up and see what’s beckoning within arm’s reach. That’s me for the last six months, working on two projects (actually three, but two were particularly world-rocking) that have totally consumed me.  The first is the launch […]

Another NaNoWriMo… Will This Year Be Different?

I believe it can be.  I believe it should be. Last October I wrote 31 posts in 31 days as a sort of NaNoWriMo bootcamp.  Damn near killed me.  But in the end I had what amounted to a valuabale guide to writing a book quickly and effectively. I had intended to do it again this year.  […]