Posts Tagged ‘creative writing’
Writer’s Block? 5 Ways to get Unstuck
We all have days when we sit down to write and the words flow fast and furious while our fingers race to keep up. But what about the days we approach our writing time with eager anticipation only to find that we have nothing to write? Our story is stuck. Our prose is…
Read MoreWhich Point of View is Right for Your Story?
Who’s telling the story? One of the most important decisions you will make when writing a novel is which point of view to use. When we started writing together, we didn’t give point of view much thought. We defaulted to a third person omniscient point of view in our first book, CIRCLE DANCE. Over the…
Read MoreAre you a Panster or a Plotter?
At Thrillerfest 2012, I had the pleasure and honor to meet and hear from the best in the industry. A variety of topics were presented on the craft of writing including: Crafting a Story Outline, Finding Your Storytelling Voice, Creating Mind Blowing Twists, Creating Compelling and Complex Antagonists, as…
Read MoreWhere is the Best Place to Write?
Everyone needs a room of one’s own – at least according to Virginia Woolf. Whether this is a literal or metaphorical dictum is open to interpretation – the state of women’s rights in Woolf’s day vastly different from today. Still – the idea that a dedicated writing space was integral to my success as an…
Read MoreThe Road to Publication
I can’t pinpoint the exact moment the paradigm shift occurred. The transition from traditionally published author to an independent one marked the beginning of the change. When my first book was published, the overwhelming feeling of vulnerability I felt shocked me. A part of me was sitting on that bookshelf for anyone to see and…
Read MoreLose the Lukewarm Writing – Going from Tepid to Torrid
I’m inclined to agree… I was a little upset… It was almost too much to bear… He was kind of difficult… She was barely passing… She was practically salivating… These limp descriptions are the tepid water of writing – the equivalent of a timid hand raised half way with no real expectation of being…
Read MoreThe Voices in my Head
What captures you more—a thrilling plot or a fascinating character? The impetuous Scarlett O’Hara and the dashing Rhett Butler, or the Civil War? A good story makes us care about the people in it—everything else is secondary. Complex characters drive the action and the plot.
Read MorePontificating with Purple Prose
If there’s a passage I’m overly proud of—it usually means I need to cut it. There is a big difference between a well-crafted sentence relevant to the story, and one that sounds impressive but does nothing to move the story forward. This kind of self-indulgence is referred to as purple prose: metaphor after metaphor;…
Read MoreVillains – the New Heroes?
I love my bad guys. They are the most fun to write—their evil deeds flow effortlessly from my imagination. They are malicious, devious, merciless, and sadistic. But If I’m not careful, they begin to resemble cardboard cutouts in black hats and handlebar mustaches. While it is tempting to craft a character oozing with evil…
Read MoreWhat Makes Thriller Writers Tick
“What’s the best way to assassinate someone and make it look like an accident?” “How about poisons—which are undetectable in an autopsy?” In most circles, these types of questions would be cause for alarm—and notification of the authorities. Not so at Thrillerfest, the premiere writer’s conference for thriller writers where talk about death, murder,…
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