Complete the Character

Complete the Character

by | Jul 2, 2023 | Blog, Writing, Writing Craft

Endings are on my mind today. I just spent the last three days with my father (90 years old) who is dying—his body is simply shutting down. Now, we don’t usually write about death in our novels, unless it is a sudden one that must be investigated, but we do write...
Your Character’s Wound

Your Character’s Wound

by | May 14, 2023 | Blog, Writing, Writing Craft

I was so surprised last week when I realized that I had never written about a character’s wounds! I learned about this concept from Michael Hauge who speaks about character wounds in his incredible talk on “The Hero’s Two Journeys”.  The...
Exploring the Third Rail

Exploring the Third Rail

by | Oct 2, 2022 | Blog, Method, Writing, Writing Craft

I was preparing for a talk I’m going to be giving this weekend to the Maryland Romance Writers when I was reminded of Lisa Cron’s concept of the Third Rail. This is an easy way to think about Story, Plot, Character development, and GMC all wrapped up into one very...
Stepping back for a broader view

Stepping back for a broader view

by | Aug 14, 2022 | Blog, Method, Writing

It’s never too late to analyze your book. In fact, despite the fact that I’m a die-hard plotter, I find it incredibly useful to plot out the story structure and character arcs of a book after it’s finished. It doesn’t matter how detailed my plot it, when I actually...
Free Will

Free Will

by | Jul 31, 2022 | Blog, Method, Writing, Writing Craft

You’ve got a book to write. A story to tell. There’s something you want to say or an event or series of events you want to share. You’ve got a plot in your mind and you’ve got a really good idea or perhaps the entire thing planned out either on paper or in your mind...