To achieve satisfying character plots, our characters must grow (or devolve, depending on the genre) over the course of the novel. Good plotting challenges the author to show that change in a believable and compelling way. There’s a good reason for the long-standing advice to authors to avoid “Single Character On Stage” (SCOS). Without social…
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Tap into the Power of RMFW Critique Groups … by Susan Schooleman
My writing sucks. Or used to. Or still does. Doesn’t everyone’s at times? But now I have a remedy for my suckiness: My RMFW critique group. For the past three years, my work has been fortified by decades of experience and insights through the group members. They infuse my weekly installments with everything from basic…
Competing with Free Books: A Marketing Lesson
If you feel like you are competing with free books on Kindle Unlimited or $.99 books on Amazon, I am about to let you in on the best kept secret no one wants you to know… Are you ready?
Rocky Mountain Writer #191
Susan Spann & Ghost of the Bamboo Road Susan Spann is the award-winning author of the Hiro Hattori mystery novels, featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo. The latest in the series, Ghost of the Bamboo Road, was published this month. Susan began reading precociously and voraciously from her preschool days in…
November: Writing and Turkey (But Don’t Write a Turkey!)
NaNoWriMo (sometimes I think it should be NaJaWriMo because it takes me three months to finish) is similar to Thanksgiving Day dinner. Plot To outline or not to outline? To pants-it or not to pants-it? Who wants five guests with the same speech pattern who all bring green bean casserole? Let alone they camp in…