Some might argue that what I’m going to talk about today, which is using active rather than passive language, is something that can be fixed later, in revisions and edits, and that’s definitely true. But let’s look at it as more of a mindset more than a craft...
This post originally appeared on Medium in April 2021. Highlights are from readers. There are three steps we should all take to clarify and confirm the genre of the books we are writing. Let’s talk first about why it’s important to know, I mean really know, the...
This post originally appeared on Medium in March 2021. Highlights are from readers. We all know that it’s important for writers to also be avid readers. But today I want to talk about what it means to study a book for certain structural elements or devices that the...
This post originally appeared on Medium in February 2021. I wanted to title this article “begin with the end in mind,” one of Steven Covey’s trademarked 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. But alas, that phrase was already taken. It’s all about setting goals, about...
This post originally appeared on Medium in February 2021. Hopefully, if you are a writer, you are also a voracious reader. This is the most effective way to understand story and craft. It’s also worth it for writers to consider why readers read, because then we can...
This post originally appeared on Medium in February 2021. I’d been writing in circles, creating a first draft that was decidedly not working. The problem was that I had two main characters who were alternating as narrators, and I couldn’t keep track of where their...
