Novelist
A student recently asked me how to cut unnecessary words–and what the hell “unnecessary” even means. Good question. One that was … Continue reading 3 Tools to Get the Sharper Prose You’ve Always Wanted
So I’ve been binge-watching Deep Space 9, and the funny thing is that some pretty familiar tropes from Battlestar Galactica … Continue reading How Ronald D. Moore Used Star Trek to Build a Better Battlestar Galactica
In my twenties and even early thirties, I wrote characters that were vindications of myself. My protagonists were always goody … Continue reading Give Your Characters Your Darkest Secrets
Okay, I’ll come clean–I don’t believe in writer’s block. In my fifteen years as a writing tutor, I’ve worked with … Continue reading 8 Ways to Beat the Block
I used to have a lot of questions, like “When should I add in detail, and how much detail is … Continue reading Trouble Finding Your Voice? Try Memoir
So you’ve got a scene that just isn’t working. You tinker and hammer and outline and cluster, but it’s still … Continue reading The Power of Patience
So I’m at that point in the novel writing process that scares the chewing gum out of me. *hack, spit, cough* I’ve … Continue reading Lost in the Woods
