“Don’t ‘Yee-Haw’ Me!”: On Writing Competent Dialect
The use of dialect in fiction is an oft-debated subject. While its foes are adamant it should never be attempted, an equal number of...
Pants or No Pants, Your Butt Needs To Be in the Seat
There's only one unalterable rule of writing: eventually, you have to write. Not think about, talk about, take a class about it, but actually...
Here’s to Better Sex in Crime Fiction
In writing, as in life, there's nothing like great sex. Unfortunately, after we're done, we often have to admit...that was nothing like great sex. This...
When Do You Know It’s Time to Cut Your Losses?
The sunk cost fallacy is a theory of human nature that says people will continue to invest in something - financially or emotionally -...
One Writer’s Simple Trick for Brainstorming the Future
Science fiction writers have been predicting elements of the future - and our present - for decades. While we don't yet have holodeck and...
Wait – There are SIX Types of Edits?!
Writers who don't like to edit their work - or who don't even bother trying - may be shocked to learn there are not...
Get SMART With Your Writing Goals
For many of us, creative writing is an escape from the drudgery of the corporate world. We bask in whatever time we can spend...
Your Character Should Spend Very, Very Little Time Alone
The Writers Write blog shares 35 quotes about creating characters, taken from some of the top writers in the business. A few of our...
Going Beyond Factual Research to Get to the Heart of Your Characters
Cursory research on historical or otherwise unique settings can give you enough facts to establish a time or place, but sometimes you need more...
Unmet Needs Fuel Your Internal Conflicts
Becca Puglisi of the Writers Helping Writers blog continues her blog tour with a stop at C.S. Lakin's site, bringing another view of conflict....
