Action, Inaction and Raising the Stakes Even if you’re writing a romance, even if you’re writing a children’s book, even if you’re writing nonfiction, you’re writing action scenes. Not an easy task, even for the best novelists and screenwriters. “Writing a good action scene is more difficult than it appears,” wrote screenwriter Brad Johnson, best…

The very best of the very darkest comedies make audiences laugh at the very sickest and very twistedest stuff. (Yes, of course twistedest is a word. Twist, twister and twistedest.)  In the movie Fargo, Peter Stormare’s character killed Steve Buscemi’s character. Stormare destroyed the evidence by feeding the body into a woodchipper, which spewed bloody meat…

The average novel – I’m guessing – is about 300 pages.  A page of an average novel is about 225 words. I know that from my own 340-page, 75,000 word-novel, To Daddy, Who I Never Loved. So, authors who are beginning their first manuscripts may be asking, where in the heck are they supposed to come…

Adrian Fogelin brought two bags of used shoes to writer’s conference in St. Augustine, Florida and dumped them on a table. And that’s where I learned the trick of creating male and female characters from a size 13 Nike or a strappy yellow pump. Fogelin is the author of several novels for middle readers and…

If you’re plotting according to the hero’s journey, step 4 is Meet the Mentor.  Mentors exist in every genre. And often, the unlikely the mentor, the better.  Mr. Miyagi mentored The Karate Kid.  Shug Avery was Celie’s principal mentor in The Color Purple. She was also Mister’s mistress, and filled the traditional mentor roles of mother, confidant,…

Stuck? Writing is tricky, but it takes only a few minutes to plan stunning plot twists to start a story, intertwine plot threads to weave through what is normally a sagging second act, and contrive a brilliant finale. Fairly early on in the process, a writer should sit down and ask, “Where the plot is…

My friend has written three books. His dialogue sounds interesting. There’s plenty of it. But only three people speak, and all three sound as if they’re speaking from the same lips. Many of their sentences are long, it sounds as if their dialogue is written instead of spoken, there’s little difference in wording among the…

The first thing writers should know about villains is that the best villains are such likeable guys. Anakin Skywalker, a good guy who was tricked by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Hans Landa, a charming, circumspect, polite SS officer who hunts and kills Jews, even women and children. The Joker, a pitiable character who could have been…

Must you outline your novel before you start writing? It’s so boring, it’s a lot of work, and you’d rather just dive right in.  I dove in and started writing To Daddy, Who I Never Loved, and I got lost after a few chapters. It’s about my hitchhiking journey as a 15-year-old from Oklahoma to California,…

Most stories are largely about the hero. The story may be told from his point of view. The story may start in the hero’s ordinary world and end with how the hero fared.  So let’s talk about your hero. What is his or her full name? Does he have a nickname? Is he a rugged…