Category: How To and Tips
Does Grief Transform What you Write?
By Sweta Vikram We were at a dinner gathering the other night when a few people asked, “When are you writing your next novel?” I didn’t have an answer. These people knew that I started work on a new novel in summer of 2020. They had shown interest in the storyline. They wanted to know […]
A Writer’s Life is a Roller Coaster. How Best to Avoid Whiplash
By Lorraine Devon Wilke When I was in grade school, my class participated in a special pullout session to watch an interesting documentary about noted anthropologist Louis Leakey. I was mesmerized throughout, so when we were assigned to write an essay immediately afterwards, I jumped in, flush with enthusiasm. Imagine, then, the blow of getting […]
From Proscenium to Paper: One writer’s journey by Jayne Chard
by Jayne Chard I started writing at about eight; I wrote all the junior school plays. When I was fourteen, I wrote my first “novel.” One of my friend’s Dad was a writer, and I always remember him saying, “If you want to be a writer, you have to write every day,” I guess I’ve […]
Life as a WIP
By Nancie Abuhaidar WIP: abbreviation for work in progress or process: a piece of work or a product that has been begun but is not finished or ready –Cambridge Dictionary In the work in progress that is my life, it feels like I’m living the boggy middle of a first draft, a fact echoed literally in my current project. Since I self-published my debut, I’ve been working on the next […]
CHASING SHADOWS: How a Real-Life Mystery Inspired a Co-Written Novel
By A.C. Adams My wife and creative partner, Christina Adams, and I met in San Diego in our early twenties. She had just returned from a tour in India and Europe as the lead singer of Vrindavan, a world music ensemble. I was the composer and book writer for an original rock opera, An Eye […]
Six Things I Learned Watching Outlander
By Valerie Taylor, author of the Venus Bixby Mystery Series Raise your hand. Have you ever said, “The book was better than the movie”? When it comes to Outlander (book by Diana Gabaldon), I’m in no position to compare one format to the other. I am not one of the more than 50 million people […]
Spending Seven Years Writing a Novel: A Study in Madness or Determination?
Spending Seven Years Writing a Novel: A Study in Madness or Determination? This June, my fifth novel, Claire Casey’s Had Enough, will be released. When I shared the cover in my monthly newsletter, many friends said, “Wow, you wrote it so fast!” I laughed because that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m sharing this […]
Good Thing I was a Lawyer First
By Lori B. Duff I don’t believe in fate. To believe in fate requires me to believe that free will is an illusion, that our choices only serve something predetermined. Actions have consequences. Now that I’m in my mid-fifties, I’ve had a lot of time to make a lot of choices and suffer (or celebrate) […]
THE ART OF SUSPENSE: CRAFTING UNPREDICTABLE TWISTS IN CRIME FICTION
By Laurie Buchanan, author of the Sean McPherson crime thriller novels The lifeblood of crime fiction is tension—the underlying current of unease, suspense, and anticipation that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The elements that contribute to tension are: INTRIGUING CHARACTERS Complex characters with hidden motives and flaws make for compelling reading. The interplay […]
How I Use My Hauntings as My Creative Guide
By Taryn Hubbard Everyone has something unique they obsess over, that keeps them up at night, or ticks away in the back of their mind. I refer to mine as my hauntings. When I set out to write my debut novel, The Very Good Best Friend, I had been ruminating about many of the themes examined […]
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