Art, in its every form, has always been volatile. It challenges people’s beliefs. It forces them to face uncomfortable realities. It constrains them to see the world through an entirely different set of eyes. In experiencing any form of art, but perhaps particularly the novel, we are plunged into the mind of another human being. […]
December 6, 2008 by 18 Comments Writing LifeIs Art Intrinsically Moral? (And Why the Answer Matters)
November 27, 2008 by 20 Comments Writing Life3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Be Writing for Money
Why do we write? Is it for the fame and the fortune? The respect of family and friends and peers? The goal of making a positive impact on the world? Or is it because of that soul-deep gnawing of creativity that refuses to let us go? Although all of these factors undoubtedly come into play […]
November 20, 2008 by 27 Comments Description3 Ways Colors Can Transform Your Writing
Arguably, no single descriptive attribute can transform your writing as quickly as color. We can spend hundreds of words laboring over a description of a springtime meadow or a shipwrecked boat, when a single color is all it takes to burst the scene upon the reader’s eye with perfect clarity. Consider the following quotations: Then, still […]
November 13, 2008 by 21 Comments Writing LifeThe Most Important Lesson Any Novel Can Teach You
The completion of a novel is always a cause for celebration. And as I step down from the wild two-year train ride of my latest completion, I can assure you my knees are still sore from dancing the Charleston all over the house. That two-inch pile of paper sitting on my desk is the receipt […]
November 6, 2008 by 69 Comments Characters5 Important Considerations for Naming Your Characters
My parents chose their children’s names according the meanings. They named me Kathryn in hopes its meaning, “pure,” would bear fruit in my life. (Of course, they also gave me a middle name that means “bitter,” so I’m still trying to figure out the ramifications of that… Pure bitter just doesn’t have quite the same […]
October 7, 2008 by 9 Comments Writer's Help3 Must-Have Story Elements: Humor, Action, and Relationships
Allow me to be radical for a moment, and reduce the art of fiction to three basic story elements. Take a gander at your bookshelf, maybe even pull a couple titles, and see if you can’t pick out the common threads. (Presumably, your personal library of favorites doesn’t contain any shoddy writing or weak themes, blatant […]
September 27, 2008 by 18 Comments ThemeWhat Do People Think of You When Reading Your Book?
In her wonderful book 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jane Smiley, commented that “readers don’t care what the author thinks.” She meant, of course, that readers don’t want the author to intrude himself and his own beliefs upon the story. Indeed, isn’t one of the cardinal rules of fiction that the author […]
September 6, 2008 by 44 Comments Plotting Your NovelThree Easy Ways You’ve Never Thought of to Keep Track of Time in Your Novel
Do you know, without looking, how much time your novel covers? If the question has just pushed you into the predicament of either scrunching up your face or staring at the ceiling in an effort to tally up your various scenes and arrive a reasonable figure of days, then the answer is probably an unqualified, […]
August 24, 2008 by 19 Comments DescriptionThe 3 Must-Know Rules for Using Metaphors and Similes
I love using metaphors. I admit it. I love the paradox that sometimes the best way to evoke the essence of something is to describe something else. I love finding that perfect comparison between two seemingly incomparable subjects and thereby shedding new light on one or both subjects. I love the poetry of speaking metaphorically, […]
August 17, 2008 by 30 Comments Plotting Your Novel6 Ways to Create Riveting Conflict in Your Story
Who says conflict is a bad thing? Who says world peace is the most important goal of humanity? Who says arguing with your little brother when you’re a kid means you’ll grow up to be an ill-mannered ruffian? Not a writer, that’s for sure! Arguably, the single most important tenet of fiction can be summed […]
