“Writing is magic,” notes Stephen King, the most prolific author in history, “as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.” I concur, so much so that it is the featured quote on my website. But is it magic? Is writing so […]
September 9, 2019 by 28 Comments Writing InspirationWriting’s Secret Formula: How to Write Stories That Matter
June 17, 2019 by 77 Comments Plotting Your Novel5 Ways to Earn Your Audience’s Loyalty
Part 22 of The Do’s and Don’ts of Storytelling According to Marvel There’s little in this cosmos that writers want more than our readers’ love and respect. We want them to buy our stories, love our stories, tell their friends about our stories, buy more stories, support us in style for the rest of our lives, […]
May 13, 2019 by 78 Comments Writing Life5 Ways Writers (Try to) Fake Their Way to Good Storytelling
Last week, I found a meme on Pinterest that showed someone dispensing two different soft drinks into the same cardboard cup. One of the drink buttons was labeled “Feeling stressed out when writing” and the other was labeled “Feeling stressed out when you haven’t written.” It’s funny because it’s true. The writing life is constantly […]
February 5, 2018 by 74 Comments How to Become a Writer4 Tips for Writing to the Right Audience
Here’s my somewhat radical idea: Writers don’t need to know who their audience is. And, yes, I know this goes entirely against popular advice, which encourages (even insists) that beginning authors must know their audience. I’ve probably even said basically that somewhere or other on this site. You’re supposed to go so far as to write […]
January 29, 2018 by 61 Comments How to Become a Writer4 Ways for Writers to Become Better Readers
Anyone can read a book, right? We all become better readers just by reading, right? Learning to put letters together into words and understand what they say—learning to read—that’s a learned skill. But once you’ve pretty much mastered that by fourth grade, you can read anything. There’s no skill to reading a novel. What is there […]
May 7, 2016 by 119 Comments Outlining Your NovelPlanning Your Story: What George Lucas Can Teach You (Not) to Do
There are great mysteries in this life. Who shot JFK? How were the pyramids built? What happened to George Lucas? And what does this have to do with you planning your story? I admit it: I waste way too much of my life puzzling over the conundrum of George Lucas. There’s a lot to think about when it […]
July 19, 2015 by 35 Comments Writing LifeWhom Should You Be Writing For? Yourself or Your Readers?
Whom should you be writing for? It’s a question all writers have to face sooner or later. Usually, we tend to think of the answer in terms of audiences: young adults, women 18-55, general adults, or super geeks of the sort to have read every back issue comic from the Silver Age. My simplest answer to this question […]
August 7, 2013 by 25 Comments Writing InspirationHow to Make Sure Your Story Lives Up to Its Potential
The first thing I have to tell you today is that I’m going to try really hard not to gush about Guillermo del Toro’s blockbuster Pacific Rim. The second thing I’m going to tell you is that I’m probably going to fail. This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in years. It was […]
May 20, 2012 by 105 Comments Writing LifeHow Self-Conscious Writers Can Move Forward
Most of us are self-conscious writers. Most of us sit by ourselves at our keyboards, but we’re not alone in our solitude. Who knows how many other people are in the room with us? Our parents, our spouses, our coworkers, our critique partners, the ghosts of classic authors, the doppelgängers of current bestsellers? And every […]
October 3, 2010 by 65 Comments Writing LifeThe Worst Writing Advice
Not long ago, I gave my followers from Twitter and Facebook a chance to sound off on the best writing advice they’ve ever received. This week, I flipped the question on its head, and asked you all to report on the worst writing advice you’ve ever received. Some of it ranged from discouraging comments to bits […]
