Word magic.
I love plotting fiction now, but I used to hate it. What changed? My love for short fiction. When I chatted about this with a student this morning, I realized that writing short stories has a hidden benefit: it teaches you how plots work. Troubles plotting fiction? Write short material Here’s a basic plot formula used by Pixar for their … Read more
Years ago, when I started writing fiction, I wanted to make my characters real. But how? I had no idea. Although my novels were published, I had zero knowledge of the craft of fiction. It took a while, but finally, I realized that fictional characters need an inner life. Just as we do, they have joys and miseries, doubts, excitements … Read more
Readers want what they want, so when you’re writing fiction, it’s easy to make mistakes which annoy readers. That said, don’t despair. You can fix most mistakes easily. Writing fiction: the biggest mistake Before we look at common errors, let’s look at the biggest one: failing to capitalize on success. Sadly this is horribly common. One of my students wrote … Read more
Are you writing short stories? If you aren’t, give them a try. Why? Many reasons: we’ve looked at the many advantages of bite-sized fiction here. The biggest advantage for me is that shorties bring visibility to novels I wrote years ago. If you want to promote older material in a story too, add a link to that published book in … Read more
When you’re writing fiction, your characters are everything. “Plot” is what your characters do. Since characterization is so vital, let’s look at simple ways to get characters clear in your own mind… So you can make them real to readers. I’ve been rereading Anthony Trollope, just for his characters. He’s masterful at characterization. Not only do you believe in his … Read more