Recently I was cleaning out some electronic files and noticed an old draft of a novel I’d abandoned in favor of another manuscript. My hand hovered over the delete key. I was about to send it to the trash bin when I decided to give it a quick read. I’m glad I did. The draft…
Tag: writing tips
Dancing About Architecture
By Colleen Oakes “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” Having the right music while I’m writing is of the utmost importance. In so many ways, it elevates the craft of writing, and it stimulates my brain in a way that nothing else can. Except for maybe, you know, writing. When I wrote Elly…
Hook me, baby.
By Robin D. Owens Hook me, baby Occasionally I pick up one of the unread books I’ve purchased and say, “hook me, baby.” Most of the time I realize why I didn’t read the book right away, and often I just go to something else. The amount of time I can spend reading is extremely…
Adventures in Genre Writing: Lesson Eight–Suspense
By Jeanne C. Stein How do you keep a reader engaged? Creating and Maintaining Suspense Our goal as a writer is to entertain, and make the reader care about your story. How do you do this? By creating and maintaining an emotional bond with the reader, by manipulating their emotions, by creating and maintaining suspense….
POLITICAL INTRIGUE IN FICTION
By Kevin Paul Tracy This month’s post builds on the ideas in February’s post with thoughts on infusing fictional politics into your fiction. In that post I refer to the root of all politics, economics, and how ultimately it is commodities in high demand – oil, gold, the spice Melange – and the need to…