It can be discouraging to be a writer—or any artist for that matter. Self-doubt, rejection after rejection, bitter-tasting criticisms, more self-doubt, long hours of hard work with little or no financial gain, and yet more self-doubt. (Did I mention self-doubt?) That’s why it’s important for creatives to remind ourselves that there are benefits to this…
It’s a decision many authors struggle with, and it’s a perennial question at writing conferences: How do you decide whether to use past tense or present tense in your fiction? The answer is, of course: Use whatever feels right for you and your story. Even though that’s the correct answer, it’s a tad vague and…
Recently, I had a short story published in the Baltimore Review. I tweeted out my good news, and another writer responded, asking me about writing short stories. He finished his question with “Do you think it’s worth it?” That stopped my fingers mid-tweet. “It depends on how you define worth,” I finally replied. There are…
You’ve got them lying around somewhere, don’t you—one- or two-page writing scraps that you dashed off at some point? Maybe they were character sketches you wrote while working through a how-to book on characterization. Or maybe they’re tucked into a notebook you used at that last workshop you attended, where the instructor had you do…
Last month, I wrote about story beginnings (“Top 10 Ways Not to Start a Story”). A reader asked if I could expand on why those story beginnings may be weak choices, beyond just overuse. (Thanks for the suggestion, author Gloria Lesher!) A story’s first pages make promises to the reader. As an author, you must…