One of the major issues with first-time novels is that the young writer fails to understand what a novel really is. All great stories are about one thing and one thing only—PROBLEMS. More specifically? Every good story has one core problem in need of being resolved. Granted, there will be many other problems along the way, …
Tag: writing tips
Mar 10 2017
The X Factor—How Character Determines Plot
Last time we talked about paradigms, and how paradigms are what make the difference between a flat one-dimensional character background and a fully dimensional creation. The paradigm is the meaning of the background, the character’s interpretation of their own experiences. The context. We all know there is an inherent X factor to humans. Theologians, scientists, geneticists, …
Feb 22 2017
Three Ways to HOOK a Reader & Never Let GO
How do we sell our stories? That is the big question. It is the reason for craft classes and editing and cover design and agents and editors and all the time on social media. And while platforms and covers and algorithms do matter, there is one tried and true way to sell more books. Write …
Feb 03 2017
Save Money on Professional Edits—6 Easy Ways to Clean Up Your Own Manuscript
Over my career I have literally edited thousands of works, most of them written by emerging writers. My greatest frustration always was (and still is) when I couldn’t even GET to critiquing the deeper story elements because I was too distracted by these all too common oopses. Good editors are NOT cheap. There are also many editors …










