Imagine for a moment everything your character cares about—Love, Friendship, Family, Country, Ideals, Religion, Tradition, Self, and Things More Specific—as a string, wrapped around your character. The more your character cares about that thing, the tighter that string is pulled—the more tension on the line. The more strings? The more interesting it gets. Tension […]
Critique is the part where you tell an author everything they did wrong, right? Yes, absolutely! You need people who will tell you about the lipstick on your teeth, or that your skirt—while very fetching—has been tucked into your underwear since noon, preferably before you go out to lunch. But critique is also the part […]
Critiquing a book isn’t so much about telling someone what they’re doing wrong, but helping them see their book better. This means not only telling the author when I think something’s not working, but also when I think they’re doing something right, and more importantly, why. This helps the author to really see their book […]
I love post-apocalyptic fiction. Especially when the apocalypse is recent. Let me count the ways: 1. Post-Apocalyptic Bloomer. When I was a kid, I learned cartography. And I was damned good at it. I could give directions on the fly using paper maps for just about anyone, fast enough for the driver to make the turns, […]
Anyone who knows me knows I love to dance. And dancing, for me, has always meant learning new and fun choreography. Until recently. This year, I started taking classes at a studio that emphasizes learning to freestyle. In these classes, we all start out dancing together, but in the end, we each pick out one […]
For my current project, I’m thinking a lot about monsters. Scary monsters, rather than Monsters University types. And what I found, to my surprise, is that very few of the monsters I came across in my research into were actually scary to me. Like, they might be scary-adjacent—as in, yeah, I’d run away if I […]
Dialogue tags. Sometimes it seems like everyone wants to do away with them. But me? I love dialogue tags. Let me count the ways: Dialogue tags offer clarity! Which is handy, especially when characters are tricksy, many in number, or not yet established. (Or when you’re not Hemingway.*) The placement of dialogue tags—and the stuff […]
I remember when I first had to learn how to write for an audience. It was a writing class which shall go unnamed, and I got my first less-than-spectacular grade on an essay. I was floored. I had just gotten a stellar grade on an essay in a writing class known for having a very […]
There is a point in doing things at times for exacting quality, and at times for endurance. They have different purposes. Sometimes, it’s good to do ten perfect push-ups, nice and slow. And sometimes, to do as many as you can in a minute. The point is that it’s teaching your body different things, and […]