by Kate Colby

If you’re reading this, I assume you want to be or already are a writer. I also assume that there’s a decent chance you want to be a full-time author. So, if that’s you, let me ask you two difficult questions: Why do you write? And why do you want to be a full-time author, when there are hundreds of easier career options?

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by Doug Lewars

Fight scenes are somewhat similar to chase scenes. I wrote about the latter last month. Use action verbs and use terse sentences. Real fights tend to be sloppy affairs and they frequently end quickly. In addition to punching and kicking there is frequently a lot of shoving. Staged fights are much better as reference material. YouTube is a good source of both so have a look at a few before writing them.

Continue reading How to Write an Effective Fight Scene →

Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, a poorly realized character will ruin your story. Even with the best plot in the world, your novel will struggle to truly connect with its audience if you’re unable to present multi-dimensional characters who behave believably.

Continue reading 3 Writing Exercises to Flesh Out Your Character’s Motivations →

by Meg Dowell

The writer-reader connection is delicate.

Possibly one of the biggest challenges new writers face is figuring out how to create a bond between themselves and people they may never meet face-to-face.

How do you connect with someone in such a way that they feel you’re speaking only to them?

How do you make a stranger feel like someone, finally, GETS IT?

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by Doug Lewars

I don’t write non-fiction but I know something about it if, for no other reason, than I’ve found it necessary over the years to read a goodly amount of it. Subjects can be highly arcane to mundane; but, the one thing that is critical is research. It is essential that an author be able to convey his or her material in a coherent fashion. Anyone can write a book on just about any topic but, in order to be successful and not fall to ridicule, an extensive knowledge of that subject is required.

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by Samantha Fenton

It’s important to grasp the whole of any character you’re writing. You, as the author, should know your characters better than anyone — even the readers. An author notices every quirk, step, and glance a character ever makes. After all, the author is the sole creator: the god.

As I’m developing my my characters, I like to pretend I’m a confidant. Here are some questions I ask my characters:

Continue reading Things I Ask My Characters →

by Destine Williams

Writing is a strange process that can be difficult to understand, especially if there are some of you still working towards your first book, or want to write, but don’t know where to start. A lot of people never finish, or start, stop, and never go back because of “writer’s block”.

I hear writer’s block mentioned so much, not just by us writers, but it’s got its own form in drawing, music, and pretty much any field that’s creative-based. Since I don’t think I have, I wanted to address it.

So let’s get to the point:

I don’t think it exists.

Continue reading The Nature of Change and Writer’s Block →