Bad people make better stories. Why? Because I cannot say this enough, ‘Fiction is about one thing and one thing only—PROBLEMS.’ Who better to create a lot of problems than damaged, broken, unlikable, foolish and possibly even unredeemable human beings? ***I use the term ‘human beings’ for all characters because aliens, otherworldly beings, and any …
May 02 2019
5 Newbie Mistakes that Will KILL a Perfectly Good Story
We all make mistakes, especially when learning anything new. Writing is not immune to process. Contrary to popular belief, writing great stories is HARD. It takes time, devotion, training, mentorship, blood, sacrifice and the willingness to make a ton of mistakes. This means countless hours and probably years of practice (which also means writing a …
Apr 24 2019
Three Ways We Sabotage Our Own Success & How to Change
Self sabotage is so common in our Western culture, I think we’re almost oblivious to how much we actually do it. We’re even more clueless about specifically WHY we do it. The answer is pretty simple, but I’ll add in something special to spice it up a bit. *jazz hands* #YouAreWelcome Whether we want to …
Apr 11 2019
How Writing Faster Can Vastly Improve Your Storytelling
Many new authors slog out that first book, editing every word to perfection, revising, reworking, redoing. When I used to be a part of critique groups, it was not at all uncommon to find writers who’d been working on the same book two, five, eight and even ten years. Still see them at conferences, shopping the same …
Apr 04 2019
Optimism Overdose: Why It’s Healthy to Admit Life STINKS
Optimism is essential for a healthy life, healthy vision in particular…sort of like Vitamin A. In fact, for the purposes of today’s post, optimism IS Vitamin A for AWESOME. Why is the song ‘Everything is Awesome’ from the Lego Movie queuing in my head? I’ve not blogged in almost a MONTH. This has NEVER happened in all …















