Writing for the joy of it

Have you ever looked at something either in your own life or that of someone else and said, “that would make a great story”? Do you play (or have you ever played) Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, or any other role-playing game? If the answer to either of these...

What do you do when you’re stuck?

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a pantser or a plotter, everyone gets stuck in their writing now and then. I’m sure you’ve read so many articles on writer’s block filled with so many suggestions (hell, I’ve written one myself). Go for a walk. Plot your story. Look at...

How long should your novel be?

I struggle with this. I naturally write short. I’m concise, what can I say? I can somehow create well-rounded, in-depth characters in very few words. I can show just enough of a room so that it can be imagined by the reader. It doesn’t take me long at all to show the...

The Rules of Writing

Somerset Maugham once said that there are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. Well, a few people didn’t get the message. Here are rules for writing a novel, the process of it, the craft, editing, and then miscellaneous rules...

How do you feel about tropes?

Do you love them and couldn’t write a story without them? Do you hate them and think they are a scourge on the face of literature? No matter which way you feel, they are an essential aspect of writing genre fiction. You might think that tropes are just for romances....