The Dangers (and Courtesies) of "Feedback" for new writers.
I'm involved in writing groups and forums. There, writers ask for help and put out advice, and we all keep the community moving,...
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J.M Robison,
Fantasy where heroes don't follow the rules
How to Write a Realistic Prison Guard Character (Hollywood gets this wrong)
I worked as a Deputy Sheriff for 7 years over three different counties. If you would like to write a character who is a prison guard or...
Don't Write for Money. Write Because You Have a Story to Tell.
I see an upsetting attitude toward writing, and that attitude is "Don't write the 2nd book in the series until the publisher accepts the...
My beta reader forgets important info. Is it their fault or mine?
WRITER: Is there any way that you can read a little faster or read more than one chapter at a time? Reading so little at one time and so...
A Quick and Dirty on Establishing Character Personalities: The Break Dance Method
HOW TO: Take all your characters and force them into a theoretical dance club. Make them stand so they form a circle in the middle of...
The Difference Between An Active and Reactive Plot Line
There are only 2 forces in this world: what we make happen by our own two hands (we drive the car) and the random acts we react to (we...
Not Every Character Should Be Beautiful
Us writers love to introduce beautiful characters. It’s poetic and tugs at our heartstrings when a dashing cowboy struts into the scene,...
A Quick And Dirty On When To Stop And Start A Chapter
Have a looooooooooong chapter and want to cut it but don’t know where? Cut the chapter right when you blast the reader with surprise,...
THE PANTSTER'S UNDERPANTS:| How To Write Like A Pantster | How Pantsters Do It | Why You Should
The age-old debate…to wear pants, or not to wear pants? Oh, that’s not the debate…? Maybe it’s…to outline or not to outline (but that...
Don’t Ignore Common Sense In Writing
I didn’t think this was an issue, but after reading so many books, both by published authors and author-hopefuls, I realize it’s not only...
Why Having Strict Story Rules Makes For A Better Story
What is a story rule? It is that rule which you create in your character and/or plot that is never to be broken. Example: RULE - a man...
The Importance Of Knowing Your Story’s Backstory, Even If You Don’t Reveal It To The Reader
I’m editing an old favorite story of mine – THE LOST GODS (16 years in the making. It’s gone through about 3 massive overhauls already.)...
Christianity and Literary Torture Scenes
I am a Christian, as I stated before in my sister blog post: Christianity and Literary Sex Scenes. I was raised to believe in doing what...
Magic Isn't Real, So Why Does it Feel Realistic?
I shared a blog post to my Facebook writer’s group. In this blog I said, “And in all things, writing must be realistic.” A fellow writer...
Christianity and Literary Sex Scenes
As a Christian there is a negative connotation when it comes to sex. It is often portrayed as being, “Inappropriate to talk about,” or...
Christianity and Literary Swearing
I’m Christian. I’ll even go so far as to say I’m a Latter Day Saint (Morman) so I abstain from smoking, alcohol, premarital sex, and...
Why E-book Fantasy Writers Should Include Maps
I’m an avid reader of fantasy books. I’m also an avid writer of fantasy books. And, what the heck, I’m also an avid enthusiast about maps...
Remove "was, were, had, that," for Better Writing Style
This review a beta reader gave me changed my writing life forever: “I am not a major fan of the words "had' and "that" and eliminate them...
Pay Homage to Your First Draft
I was beta reading for someone, and I asked them, “Is this your first draft? If not, what draft number are you on?” And his reply, “I...
To Kill or Not to Kill Characters
Why should you kill characters? When should you kill characters? How many characters should you kill? WHY: For me, I kill characters when...
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