writing advice
writing advice

writing advice

Writing Action

I am going to get right to the point and tell you the secret of writing action scenes: It’s not about the action. Like everything else in writing, it’s about character. A lot of people think reading action scenes is boring. And done poorly, it is. It’s not a movie. We can’t add camera angles and sound effects and a chaotic score that all drive the excitement; we have only words. But with those words—and clever choices of what words they are—we can do something that movie action scenes have a much harder time doing. We can illustrate character. Who...

This content is for members only.
Join Now
Already a member? Log in here

Simplicity

“The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.” Walt Whitman Way back when I was a poker player and coach, there was a thing I liked to point out to my students. “Poker is a simple game,” I said. “You want to put a lot of money in the pot when you’re winning, and put as little in the pot as possible when you’re not. And absent compelling reasons not to, that’s exactly what you should do.” I point this out, not because I think a ton of you are...

This content is for members only.
Join Now
Already a member? Log in here

Writing That Resonates

Resonate. It’s the word I use most often when talking about writing. But what does it really mean? Take the word home. The dictionary definition is “The place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.” But that’s not what anyone thinks when they hear the word. They think of their home. What it looks like, what it sounds and smells like, how it feels to be there. They think of the people who occupy it and the often complex emotions they engender. They think about history and family and legacy and…well, you get the...

This content is for members only.
Join Now
Already a member? Log in here

What to Do When the Writing Won’t Work

Sometimes the writing just won’t work. The words won’t come, or they’re all wrong when they do. Even if you manage to type something, you delete it seconds later. You’re blocked. We’ve all been there. Don’t panic. It will come back. Meanwhile, I have some ideas to get it back sooner rather than later. Though it’s important to match the techniques with what you’re trying to write and where you are in the process — you’re going to need different techniques when you’re starting a short story than when you’re in the middle of a novel — no matter where...

This content is for members only.
Join Now
Already a member? Log in here

Plotters vs. Pantsers

In the eternal debate about what is the best way to write, two terms have come into common usage: plotter and pantser. Plotters are the planners, the outliners, the writers that like everything in place before they write a single word. Pantsers (called so because they “fly by the seat of their pants”) are those who leap into the void, writing their way into and out of situations without a map. Despite the exclusivity of the terms, there are few, if any, writers who are purely one or the other. Most plotters do some improvisation, at least when writing scenes...

This content is for members only.
Join Now
Already a member? Log in here

Writing that Resonates

Resonate. It’s the word I use most often when talking about writing. But what does it really mean? Take the word home. The dictionary definition is “The place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.” But that’s not what anyone thinks when they hear the word. They think of their home. What it looks like, what it sounds and smells like, how it feels to be there. They think of the people who occupy it and the often complex emotions they engender. They think about history and family and legacy and…well, you get the …