That RPG thing, and what it has to do with writing So a while back, I changed the description of the page from “tips on writing better fiction” to “writing, roleplaying and storytelling”. This might seem as though I changed the vocation of the page, but that isn’t the case at all; in fact, I’m… Read More What does role-playing have to do with writing, anyway?
I read this one about a month ago, and I immediately urged all my colleagues, writing group friends and former students to buy it right away. It is by far the BEST book on self-publishing and online book marketing out there. If you have to buy just one book on the subject, make it this… Read More Book Recommendation: Self-Printed: The sane person’s guide to self-pubilshing
Writing can be a challenging occupation, not only because as your own boss, you have to be the one to keep yourself focused and at work rather than doing the million other things you could do on your computers, but also because you have to make others understand that what you’re doing alone on your… Read More GUEST POST: The art of circumventing distractions, by Cindy Vine
A few weeks ago, I got a bad review. It happens, and even when, as is the case with this particular book, it happens a lot less than the positive ones, it’s still unpleasant. But that’s not what this post is about. It’s about why he hadn’t liked the book, because being a character-driven author… Read More The complexity of the human mind
Making sure you have the right characters If you’re a character-driven storyteller (like I am) then you LOVE characters. You have a bank of them just waiting for a story to be put in, and your stories often come from the characters themselves rather than concepts or ideas. That’s awesome, and generally leads to very… Read More Casting
The pre-writing phase, part 1 Today, I’m going to be answering another long-overdue special request. A few weeks ago, someone asked me “how do you know which ideas to pick, when you’re starting a project?” It took me a while to put it in a blog post, because this process, to me, isn’t really one… Read More How do you know which ideas to pick?
Workaholism and the yes syndrome As promised in my last post, today we’ll be talking about two workload-related problems that can affect your ability to schedule properly: workaholism and what I call the “yes syndrome”. First, I want to talk about the “yes” syndrome. I’m talking about people who say yes to too many things,… Read More Workaholism and the “yes” syndrome
Here is the trailer for Brothers In Arms!
My last book recommendation was not for beginners; I recommended it for people who were at least intermediate to advanced. If you were disappointed because you wanted something to start with, then this book is for you! This year you write your novel, by Walter Mosley, is a great first book to start with if… Read More Book recommendation: This year you write your novel by Walter Mosley
So in my post “I just don’t have the time” I had given this simple instruction as part of the many things you can do to manage your time better: make a schedule. But writing down what you plan to do in a day planner and actually doing those things are a world apart. Over… Read More Efficient scheduling
Nathan Caro Frechette's Ice Cream for Zombies 