As an established author and the CEO of a medium-sized publishing house, I’m often asked what my advice is to a new author. My answer is always, “Get involved with a writing organization.” There are many facets to being part of a writing organization, and membership has a lot of perks. The Rocky Mountain Fiction…
This week the Republican National Convention is being held in my hometown. While I will be staying physically far away in the suburbs, it’s impossible to really avoid – from packed restaurants to clogged freeways to featurettes about the city of Milwaukee on every news channel. So rather than ignoring the hullabaloo, I’ve decided to…
In any given situation, each individual involved in that situation will perceive the exact same things happening in different—sometimes shockingly different—ways. That’s why crime scene witness testimony is often contradictory. The same concept should be true in every scene we write in our stories. No two characters will experience the events within a scene in…
I’m still battling with the age-old writers’ conundrum regarding outlining and plotting. It could be that my resistance to outlining stems from quite a few years working as a tech writer. I’ve written a hundred user manuals for numerous software programs and technical procedures, none of which I could have started or completed without an…
Here’s actor Jeremy Renner on a recent episode of the Smartless podcast. “I don’t really believe in hobbies. Either you do something or you don’t, right? I don’t have time to just dip my toe in the water. I’m not taking a ******* bath here in life.” Where do you categorize your writing? If you’re…