by Suzanne Purkins   Today, I thought it would be fun to talk about what makes a fictional character believable. It’s easy to describe what a character looks like and give her/him/it a cool name. But how do you make your readers care about what happens to that character? What’s the secret to bringing… Read More How to Develop Realistic Characters

  by Kate M. Colby   Despite the “how to” title of this post, I’m not going to offer a series of steps to reach your goals. Obviously, each goal, each person, and each situation is unique, and frankly, you shouldn’t need me to tell you the steps to meet your aspirations. But what I… Read More How to Approach Your Long Term Goals

  by Pekoeblaze   Well, since I’m reading a surprisingly creepy vampire novel (“The Hunger” by Whitley Strieber) at the time of writing this article, I thought that I’d talk about the horror genre again. In particular, I thought that I’d talk about how writers can turn the familiar monsters of the genre (eg: vampires,… Read More 3 Ways To Make Familiar Horror Monsters Scarier

  by Doug Lewars   I believe I was in high-school when I first stumbled across a modernistic book that was devoid of plot. I wasn’t attempting to read modern literature at the time. What I wanted was science fiction and this book was classified as such. After sixty pages I closed the book and… Read More A Word on Plot For Authors

  by Kelly D. Smith   1. Get out there! Meet people, and don’t be scared to say you are a writer. 2. Blog- now, is blogging really worth it? I’m not sure, I’m actually going to be talking about that soon but I enjoy it! 3. Guest blog, because really if you’re going to… Read More 20 Ways to Get Yourself Out There as a Writer

  by Ruth Ann Nordin   Someone recently asked me about writing with emotion.  This is really about creating the emotionally engaging character because if you don’t write emotion into your character, the reader won’t connect with that character on an emotional level.  It’s hard to explain the difference between a great story and an emotionally… Read More Writing With Heart: Creating an Emotionally Engaging Character

  by Ned Hickson   Over the years, my wife has gotten used to my (admittedly bad) habit of leaning over and whispering “expendable character” whenever I see someone who I know is going to die. I should clarify I only make these predictions while watching movies, and not, as a general rule, at the… Read More Why Survival Skills Are So Important For a Writer

  by Lauren Sapala   I started a new novel last week. I had been thinking about the story for at least two months. The characters kept popping into my mind at all hours of the day. I could see them so clearly. I felt so connected to them. I thought about them while I… Read More Writers, Please Remember, It’s Called a Bad First Draft for a Reason