Dear aspiring novelist, Thank you for your letter. I don’t wish to offend. But I’ve been asked that question before, and I’ve learned something like the following is the best advice I can give. It […]
Tag: advice
(Sunday Thought) Anything easy to read was hard to write
The mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal famously said of one of his letters that he did not have the time to make it shorter, by which he meant that writing well, which surely includes writing […]
(Sunday Thought) Gaslighting and Social Media
It’s been my consistent experience that you can’t “social media” your way to commercial success. But don’t take my word for it. For a long time, I thought it was me, or rather my writing. […]
(Curiosity) Let’s Fight!
I had a couple conversations recently about writing fight scenes and how abysmal they usually are to read, even to watch. Action is very tedious, after all. Think of how quickly a car chase gets […]
(Curiosity) Writing Great Natural Magic in Fantasy
There are all different kinds of magic of course, but in fiction there are generally two: Machine Magic is usually part of a system where a certain outcome is more or less guaranteed as long […]
(Feature) No Excuses
We are never as creative as when making excuses for why we can’t be. Akira Kurosawa, for those who don’t know, wasn’t just one of the greatest directors in Japan. He was one of the […]
A New Cover!
This book is highly unusual. To start, it isn’t one story. It’s five mysteries, or “courses” (as in a meal). Each is told by a different narrator. Each not only completes a full narrative arc […]
