How can I develop a successful writing habit? That was a question I used to ask myself when I first started writing more than fifteen years ago. When I began my writing journey, I didn’t have any set schedule devoted to my writing. I just wrote when I could. While that is still the case, […]

Sometimes life imitates fiction and sometimes it is the other way around. I discussed in a podcast titled, How to Write, of the benefits of the adage, ‘write what you know’. One of the easiest and best sources of content for our writing comes from our memories. Each of us has a lifetime of events […]

I think there are lots of different styles used to create good books. Some are written from a single perspective while others have multiple perspectives from a variety of characters. There is no right or wrong answer in choosing which to use for a book. It is a determination that an author has to make—maybe […]

It is in the individual scenes where I believe that a story’s magic is made. In my opinion, scenes are the building blocks of a story. If you think of individual scenes as Lego blocks, stack the scenes together and you get something unique. Put one or two together and you create a chapter. Stack […]

Crafting a strong and well-rounded antagonist is just as important as creating a great main character. Some would argue, me included, that it is even more important as it creates several key ingredients for a compelling story. So, why is it critical to have a well-written antagonist? Because they don’t just stand in the protagonist’s […]

What are the different stages of writing and editing that my manuscripts go through before they’re finally published? That’s a great question. I discussed in a podcast titled, First Drafts, many of the processes I use when writing a first draft before editing takes me into secondary and tertiary drafts. One of the first things […]

How to come up with character names? I discussed in a podcast titled, How to Start Writing, how I come up with names for my characters. Sometimes it takes time to come up with the right name and the right physique to match the character I have in my mind. To start with I have […]

How do you “ground” readers into your story and pull them in? I use three different but successful methods. The first method is the all important “hook”. Through the course of the opening sentence, paragraph, or scene of your book, a hook’s goal is to snare the reader’s attention. It is like the first kiss […]

As I discussed in a podcast titled, Book Bible, I write a detailed character profile for each of my cast members in what’s called a book Bible. When I need to write in the POV of a specific character or maybe reference how they may respond to a given situation, the first thing I do […]