…the art of splitting people into two groups and trying to be both of them. Pantsers: WTF, dude, none of this makes any sense. Character voice is good. Lyrical, poetic. Starts with a showy bit of action or witty dialogue that comes completely out of nowhere. “But can’t you just get this?  Are you stupid?  I […]

Three ways to do it: The character gets deeply humiliated right away. Events surrounding the character are such that you immediately go, “That’s why X is so broken.” The character is so deeply charming that you get over it. You can also mix the three. You can’t write a dull character who’s mildly unpleasant and

When people talk about the risks of not having print books anymore, I’m struck by how hard it is for humanity to assess risks accurately. “It’s all fun and games until world civilization collapses and we have NO MORE BOOKS.” The chance of civilization as we know it collapsing to the point of irretrievably losing

Sometimes you open your heart and find only ugly things… That’s the kind of day when I have to write.  Better the characters suffer than the people around me. … If you liked today’s post, check out my new paranormal short story, “The Rusalka,” in which our hero doesn’t know how bad he’s getting screwed…but the

Something I’m noticing a lot of lately is people going, “Why can’t we all just get along?” And that’s a great question when it comes to pizza toppings.  Personal preference is a good thing in matters of taste. But then we come to things like the asshole uncle at the Thanksgiving table.  “Just ignore him,”

I’m happy for thrillers and all, but what I really want is to be able to reliably track down good adventure fiction.  None of this wishy-washy “but thrillers are full of adventure” crap, either.  It’s not the same thing.  The Scarlet Pimpernel is not a thriller.  The Three Musketeers is not a thriller.  Michael Crichton

People talk about pacing as if it were some great and mysterious thing. However, mostly what pacing is, is a laborious observation of three ostensibly dull areas: Paragraph length. Sentence length. Word length. Once you have a grasp on those things, then you can start worrying about: Scene length. Chapter length. Plotting (how thick and

If I were going to pick one skill to master as a writer first, it would be how to get the words down even when you don’t think you’re good enough, you’re not in the mood, you don’t deserve it, etc. If I were going to pick two, it would be that one and writing quickly.

Everything about writing and freelancing is easier when you have your priorities in order.  Everything…except looking through the fridge and trying to find out what to have for lunch. … If you liked this post, please tell me what to have for lunch.  Fastest response: Facebook.

I had to talk to my daughter, Ray, about how to know whether someone was using her.  She’s very empathic, very good at reading people, and pretty emotionally wise for her age, so people tend to lean on her when they have personal issues, and she tends to shut down at school. First we talked