Sometimes as a writer, the well just runs dry. When you first start putting together a blog, you may feel that you have enough ideas to last for years; that you’ll be able to crank out post after post without ever running out of steam. Then, all of a sudden, reality sets in and you...
Creating the proper tension for a scene is one of the most difficult challenges a writer can face. Providing all of the proper elements that culminate in a nerve tightening sequence of suppressed anticipation takes skill, precision, and proper planning. When it comes to kids’ movies, these challenges increase tenfold. While adults may be willing...
All the cards on the table: I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes buff. Ever since I read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in grade school, I’ve been a diehard aficionado of the detective in the deerstalker. When BBC released Sherlock, I was skeptical about the concept of placing the famous sleuth and his equally famous sidekick...
There is perhaps nothing in fiction that can draw a reader into the world of your characters better than a well written setting. The setting is the environment, the place, the shell in which your drama unfolds. It is meant to reflect, to reveal, to support the theme and mood of your story in a...
There is no TV show that quite makes use of fast moving, high level, intellectual bantering as “Frasier”. Perhaps one of the most successful spinoffs of all time, “Frasier” took a beloved character from an equally beloved tv show and built a small and lively world around him. If there is one area where “Frasier”...
When one writes on any sort of regular basis, it’s pretty easy to pick up certain habits. When it comes to putting together a novel however, some of those habits can drag your work to a grinding halt. One of the biggest problems with bad habits is that we don’t always realize we have them....
Many writers will tell you that the most difficult part about writing a story is the plot itself: what should you write? I have long believed that absolutely anything can be made into a compelling story. It all comes down to how you look at it: how can you turn a situation in such a...
Every fictional reality needs anchor points; symbols, objects, or landmarks to remind and reinforce to the audience the nature of the reality you are building in your story. This article acts as a follow-up to my previous worldbuilding post “The Five Levels of Reality”. If you haven’t already had a chance, you can read that...
Recently, I had a chance to see Christopher Nolan’s latest epic “Dunkirk”. As I was watching the film, it occurred to me that there was much to be learned concerning writing about historical events. Now before I go any further, I think I must point out that I will be mentioning key aspects of the...
So you’ve FINALLY completed that novel you’ve been working on. After months, maybe years, of slaving over scenes, subplots, and character development, you have finally perfected your baby. There’s just one problem. You’ve missed something. Now you may be thinking that after all of the time you’ve put in, all the reading and rereading, writing...
