Your writing exercise this week is a simple but powerful one that I teach in my storyboarding classes.  Ask yourself this:  What's th...

One reason I take classes or go to writing conferences or join a writing group is to set artificial deadlines for myself. I know, after y...

Maggie, one of my past students, sent me a fun email this week.  She has been using a great technique for getting deeper into her charact...

This weekend, I'm traveling to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to join fifteen emerging (and already published) book writers for my week-long r...

I've been struggling with my antagonist. That might sound like a normal situation--antagonists create conflict--but my challenge is l...

Thanks to Rita who sent  the link  for this week's writing exercise.  Scan these best endings and pick your favorite.  Why do you love ...

Writing a book--writing anything--is by necessity a solitary practice.  We are by ourselves with our words at first, generating them in a...

Here's a great definition of interior monologue:  "a conversation a character is having with themselves, internally."  Read...

One of my students is writing his first novel, a work of historical fiction that he has researched carefully.  He became interested in th...

As a journalist for several decades, I was taught well by my editors how to wrap up an article, interview, or column.  Leave the reader w...