Develop Your Protagonist’s Flaws

Develop Your Protagonist’s Flaws

I was recently asked, “How do you choose and create a protagonist’s flaws?” Simple. The same way you choose and create your own flaws. What? You didn’t choose your flaws? You’d rather not have them? Before you declare me a smartass, that’s a clue to the how part...
Travels & Travails in Revision Land

Travels & Travails in Revision Land

An Unlikely Story, or Write What You Don’t Know I enjoy mysteries. I read Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie as a kid. PBS’s Mystery series was and is a favorite of mine. And yet, I fell into writing the Skoghall Series accidentally. I wanted to write a...

Are Cliffhangers Evil?

I recently watched the PBS Masterpiece mini-series, Endeavour. You might be familiar with Inspector Morse from the Colin Dexter books or the Mystery series. Endeavour portrays Inspector Morse as a young Detective Constable in the 1960s. It’s free on Amazon Prime,...
How True is True in Fiction?

How True is True in Fiction?

I’ve been down the rabbit hole for the last couple of weeks. It’s a necessary side venture to writing any novel, and some more so than others. I’m working on book 2 of The Skoghall Mystery Series, Dark Corners in Skoghall, and I hit a wall. Not just any wall—certainly...
Action Scenes: Clarity vs. Pacing

Action Scenes: Clarity vs. Pacing

There is a special balancing act to be accomplished when writing action scenes. Think of a teeter-totter and put Clarity on one seat and Pacing on the other. Generally speaking, the faster the action occurs, the more you have to slow it down to make it work on the...

Get current offerings, like the Writers Circle, workshops, & coaching.

Read ruminations on life, writing, & the writing life.

Story craft & writing tips, too!

Thanks for subscribing! Look for a confirmation email in your inbox.

Pin It on Pinterest