What ARE your story's A's and B's? The A's and B's of your story are your plot and the subplot. The premise versus the heart of the...

When building a character, one of the first aspects that comes into consideration is what the character values. What manner of justice is...

No matter the genre you’re writing, setting is always key to a story. Setting is a writer’s backdrop canvas of geographical tone. From...

Starting a story is always the hardest step. There’s a world to construct, characters to develop, a plot to chart and thematic value to...

“Padraic swings his flashlight beam over the tracks again and finds a pretty little music box with a hand crank on top. Padraic lifts the...

Let’s face it. Recovering from the impact of 2020 is going to take a while. No matter how steadfast we march forward into this new year,...

Opening scenes have always been tough for me. So many notes to hit and so little time. Worse, opening scenes lead to first chapters that...

Whenever I find myself in need of an inspiration boost for my writing, I like turning to my favorite “internet fox-holes” that occupy my...

In any writing, effective characters are vital to a compelling story. This is especially true if a writer finds themselves the creator of...

Writing a compelling character is vital to any story. Providing your audience someone to root for and worry over is part of the...

It isn’t necessary to have seen a single episode of South Park (created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone) to recognize the character in this...

It’s quarantine. This pandemic has relocated us all and we now find ourselves working from home. On the surface, this seems like a dream...

Well, this title speaks for itself doesn’t it? The Corona virus continues to keep the world in a global lockdown and 2020 continues to...

Do you remember in school when your English teacher returned the rough draft of your essay and were told “I wasn’t hooked?” All that time...

The loser protagonist is one of my current favorite trends when it comes to fiction lately. Gone are the days of protagonists with...

The "mandatory" first rule of writing is that everything is as mandatory as it is optional. Writers learn the rules so they can break the...

We all know how crucial accuracy is when it comes to any historical drama. Whether this drama comes from a book or movie, accuracy is key...

Have you ever spent time at your desk talking out your latest scene in your book rather than writing it? As an auditory learner, I've...

Summer is almost over, and autumn is on its way, which means NaNoWriMo is fast approaching. For any novelist, the turn of the season...

Not too long ago, I attended a writing class that focused on the interesting subject matter of "secrets and lies" as narrative devices....