The Hot Barometer
by Elizabeth Conte The sun is merciless as its golden rays are omnipresent…lingering through the dog days of summer. Constant. Hot. Days to sit on the beach, lie by the Continue reading
Category: Craft
5 Hot Tips for Creating Memorable Characters
by Karen Sue Walker As writers, we want our characters to come alive on the page as fully formed individuals who capture readers’ imaginations. What we don’t want to hear Continue reading
6 Hot Tips for Digging Out of the Saggy Middle
by Greta Boris I signed up for an on-line plotting course some years back and started happily typing away. I was excited about the beginning of my story and I knew, Continue reading
Story Development Technique: “The Whistles & Bells Test™”
by Jeff Lyons “The Whistles and Bells Test™” is a quick test you can carry out whenever you get the inspirational flash of a new story idea. It is a Continue reading
Story Structure: Just like an orange and sex. Really.
by Kristy Tate In a few days, I’ll be at the Foothill Ranch library comparing story structure to a piece of citrus fruit and sex. Like an orange, a story Continue reading
Lost in an Uninspiring Muddle? Maybe You’ve Confused Story and Situation: Part 2
by Jeff Lyons In part two of this series, Jeff Lyons—author, screenwriter, editor, and story development consultant—explains how to make a situation work. If you missed part one, you can Continue reading
Inspiration: Take it where you can get it
by Janis Thomas I’m busy. I know, you’re busy too. We’re all busy. For most authors, writing is a pursuit wedged between other responsibilities. Day jobs, motherhood, fatherhood, etc. We Continue reading
Lost in an Uninspiring Muddle? Maybe You’ve Confused Story and Situation: Part 1
by Jeff Lyons In this two part series, Jeff Lyons—author, screenwriter, editor, and story development consultant—helps us understand what the heck we’re writing. Is it a story? A situation? In Continue reading
I Love to Plot, Part 3: The Play
by Michelle Knowlden A plot is about things that happen. A story is about people who behave. …from Roger Ebert’s Review of “House of Sand and Fog,” 26 December 2003 Continue reading
Three Ways to Begin Your Story: 3. Mind Meld
by Lisanne Harrington I come from a family of writers. We all use a different method to begin our stories: Mind Mapping, which we covered in Part One, Index Cards Continue reading