When crafting a novel, it’s easy to focus primarily on the development of the protagonist and the primary characters. But remember, your protagonist does not live in isolation. The true mark of a skilled writer lies in their ability to breathe life into secondary characters as well—and in fact, these are sometimes the characters who…
Great twists need plausibility. Don’t try to fool readers.
Recently I’ve found myself in a quandary about critiquing another writer for the ‘head hopping’ error. I mean, what actually constitutes head hopping?
I realized last month, when contemplating the fact that 2003 marks RMFW’s 40th anniversary, that I’ve been writing for 40 years. Summer of 1983. I switched jobs. I went from newspaper reporter to working as a television producer for a PBS news show. I started flying around the country working on stories. And, during all…
In a recent workshop, I was asked to explain the difference between passive and active voice. Think of active voice as being more direct, with a noun (the subject of the sentence) doing a verb (the action of the sentence): “Daryl caught the ball” (noun=Daryl, verb=caught) or “The script revealed the killer on the first…