A transition sentence is like a bridge by Ruth Harris At a writers’ workshop, I once heard a beginning writer talk about how it had taken him almost all day to write a paragraph describing his character waking up in his bedroom upstairs and going to the kitchen downstairs to make breakfast. “He made eggs […]
Your Writing Superpower in a World of AI
by Jim Denney I’ve been concerned about various threats from artificial intelligence for several years — threats to the economy, threats to our civil society, and even threats to human existence. I became even more alarmed about artificial intelligence when I discovered that AI systems are chronic, pathological liars. In early 2023, I began […]
Terrible Advice Writers Should Ignore from Social Media Friends
by Anne R. Allen I see terrible advice in online writing groups and blog comments all the time. Sometimes I step in and gently disagree. But mostly I don’t. Arguing with people on social media is an exercise in futility. So I get to express my opinions here. It’s great to make friends on […]
What A Female Writer Should Keep in Mind When Writing A Male Character
Remember Fabio’s male character was only a fantasy by Harry Bingham For a female author, the construction of a genuine, well-rounded male character offers a unique chance to cross gender barriers and explore a broad range of experiences. However, how to effectively dive into the male psyche? How do societal norms mold the actions and […]
How Can a Writer Show Multiple Points of View Without Head-Hopping?
By Anne R. Allen Point of view is one of the toughest things for a new writer to master when learning to write fiction. You hear terms like “omniscient, third person limited, second person, deep point of view, camera’s eye” etc. But it’s hard to figure out which one works for your story. And […]
Find Your Fictional Characters’ Energy Motivators
How an ancient philosophy of energy can help you create better characters by Deborah-Zenha Adams It doesn’t matter what genre you’re writing — characters are the lifeblood of your story. No matter how perfectly-plotted, tightly-structured, and wildly creative your story is, readers might not stick with it if the characters are hollow, bland, or just […]
What’s the Best Way to Learn to Be a Writer?
by Anne R. Allen I’m often approached by parents or grandparents of children who’ve shown a talent for writing. They ask how a child can learn to be a writer. Or sometimes a person going through a mid-life job change will ask my advice about going back to college to pursue a long-deferred writing dream. […]
9 Common Dialogue Problems—And How to Fix Them
by Anne R. Allen Learning to write effective, believable dialogue is one of the toughest parts of learning to write narrative — whether fiction or memoir. We don’t want to simply transcribe the way people actually talk, with all the pointless “ums” and stammery filler-things we say in real life. But we also don’t […]
Why Can’t a Novelist Write Like a Screenwriter?
by Anne R. Allen Recently, a blog reader asked me why readers dislike it when the POV character dies at the end of chapter one, when most TV cop shows start with the victim being murdered — and nobody complains. As I said in my blogpost on 8 Ways Not to Start a Novel: “This […]
Eight Ways Not to Start a Novel
by Anne R. Allen First let me say you can start a novel any way you want in order to get words on a blank page. Anything goes when you’re writing your first draft. I always say the first draft of a novel is for the writer and the final draft is for the […]
Readers’ Pet Peeves: Should Writers Pay Attention to Them?
by Anne R. Allen As a reader, I’ve recently developed some pet peeves that never used to bother me. Maybe it’s age. These days I find it almost impossible to follow a novel with wild head-hopping, where every spear-carrier is a POV character. I’m also bored by stories where everybody is horrible and there’s nobody […]
Where’s the Spatter?? Ten TV Tropes that Drive a Crime Writer CRAAAZY
by Melodie Campbell I’m a crime writer. Hell, I’ll put on my other hat (the one with the pointy top) and say it. I’ve also been a fantasy writer (same pen name, different genre.) So I know about suspension of disbelief. I’m willing to admit that as an audience, we might agree to ‘suspend belief’ […]
Outlines, AI and Stormy Daniels
by Ruth Harris I’d been planning to write my April post about outlines. Which authors do outlines? And which ones don’t? (I don’t and neither does Anne). I’d done a bit of research and made some notes when along came AI, the hot new kid in town. How could I ignore AI when everyday I […]
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