Category: Uncategorized

Would You Rather? An Exercise in Creating Max Conflict in Fiction

There is a newbie author mistake we all make. Thinking, feeling, more thinking but nothing happening. I’ve blogged many times that writing can be therapeutic, but it isn’t therapy. I feel that Corbett’s point really crystallized what I was trying to say, but couldn’t seem to articulate nearly as well as he did. As Long as We are in the Character’s Head, NOTHING is at Stake. There is no push-back, no opposition, thus no conflict. This really gets to the heart of the SHOW DON’T TELL line we have all had drummed into our heads.

The Real Problem with Abercrombie & Fitch—How Jeffries' Message Hurts Us ALL

No designer label could give them what they so desperately needed—love, meaning, and genuine connection. I was guilty. I’d bought into the marketing lie—that these kids with these clothes have everything. Now, being older and wiser, I am deeply saddened. What if I’d had the courage to cross the A&F line and realize that “cool guy” was hurting? Would he still be alive?

The Secret Recipe for Writing a Perfect Pitch

Writing a book is easy…at least when compared to what we need to do after we finish. We had 50,000 to 100,000 words to write our novel, and now we have to condense that down into a couple of paragraphs for an agent pitch, query letter, Amazon description, or back cover copy.

I LOST THREE Followers—Twitter & Tips to Keep from Going CRAZY

There are all kinds of services out there willing to get you a zillion followers for a fee. When you see someone has 25,000 followers, maybe they worked to get that following, but they also could have paid for it. Means NOTHING.

Creating Multi-Dimensional Characters—Everybody Lies

When it comes to your characters, make them lie. Make them hide who they are. They need to slowly reveal the true self, and they will do everything to defend who they believe they are.