Finding Names for Characters and Places One of the questions I constantly hear from new writers is “Where do you get all those names?” Here are some of the […]
Tips and Tricks
Stuff I’ve learned over the years
How to Start Your Novel
All too often, a new writer will say “I’ve got this great idea for a book … but I just don’t know where to start.” Getting started isn’t the easiest […]
More from the Writing Workshop
Advanced Characterization (Michael Stackpole) All plot comes out of the characters – their needs, goals and interactions “Your job as a writer is to torture and confuse your readers by […]
Writing Workshop: Day 1
Today’s panels were The Rules of Writing, Historical Research, Characterization and Writing Mysteries. Here are Michael Stackpole’s suggestions. Rules of Writing: Show, don’t tell. If you say “Bob was angry,” […]
Stay Active
No, I don’t mean exercise – though that’s always helpful to get your brain focused and increase your creativity! I’m talking about active writing. Active writing starts with voice. Passive […]
Find Your Voice
Voice is a hard one for many beginning writers. What exactly is a writer’s voice, and how do you get that unique one that all of the agents and editors […]
5 Tips for a Great Opening Chapter
How are you going to grab that agent’s or editor’s attention and make them want to request your entire manuscript? Here are some tips. Make your characters three-dimensional – have […]
Use Your Experience
The old advice is “Write what you know.” That’s a misleading phrase, and it stymies many a beginning writer. The actual phrase should be “Write what are willing to learn […]
5 Tips to Writing Emotionally
One of the areas many new writers have trouble with is emotional content. Their writing may have a lot of description, even vivid images, but there is no connection for […]
The Serious Art of Writing Humor
Kris Neri shared some of her secrets with us at the Tony Hillerman Conference. Here are a few tricks of the trade. Teaching humor is hard, Kris says. To teach, you […]