Anyone who knows me can attest that I am a huge fan of Stephen King’s writing. I have virtually all of his books in hard cover, including a few duplicates. He is by and far my favorite author, and I have read many of his books repeatedly. Most of the world knows him as … More The Creative Mind of Stephen King
One bit of advice that is often given to writers is to “grab the audience” right away with a “hook”. That’s great, but what does it mean? Essentially, it’s saying to give your reader something interesting right from the start—do not bore your audience. This doesn’t mean that you have to start in the middle … More The All-Important Opening
When my mom reads a book, she goes to the last few pages to see how it concludes before starting from the beginning because she doesn’t want to become invested in it only to find that it ends badly. Of course, an ending being good or a bad is subjective. We tend to be programmed … More Satisfying Endings
I’m always surprised when someone tells me they enjoy my writing. I think I’m a good writer–at least I hope I am. But mostly, I write stories that entertain me, and I have low expectations that my work will make me rich or change the world. If someone else other than me is entertained or … More The Business of Entertaining People
A common phrase that’s bandied about is “think outside the box,” meaning to not think in the same manner as everyone else, but to come up with new ideas and approaches that are unique. That’s a great philosophy, even if it’s somewhat impractical in the case of storytelling. The classic story structure is three acts–beginning, … More Thinking Creatively Within the Box
Writing is work. To those of us who like to write, it’s fun–but to actually be proficient at it, it takes work. Why do we write? At its most basic, the reason is to communicate something–information, ideas, opinions. But we also want to entertain or at least stir some emotion or thought within the reader. … More Writing and Rewriting and Re-rewriting
I just finished reading an enjoyable middle grades fantasy novel by the fun and personable Lindsay Cummings called The Fires of Calderon (the first book in the Balance Keepers series) and something occurred to me. Quite often in stories, especially ones with a flair for adventure, you have three main characters consisting of two males … More The Three-Character Rule
The business of writing is a finicky one. Whether you’re a novelist, a screenwriter, a blogger, a journalist, or any other kind of writer, you are usually judged by your first success. I suppose this is the same with any creative arts (some friends of mine who made a highly successful horror film found it … More Formula vs. Creativity
