The narrator: that unseen, often nameless character who somehow knows everything that’s happening and what everyone is thinking. Unless you’re writing from first person perspective, in which case the narrator is one of your characters, the narrator is that omnipresent “being”, who exists only to narrate the events transpiring in the story. One...
When you write a work of fiction, you create an entirely different world. Your reader, a total stranger to this “new world” requires a guide. That is where point of view, or POV comes into play. What are you going to allow your reader to “see”? What will you allow them to “hear”? What will...
The opening line has often been called the “pitch”. It is the point at which you need to sell your story. I personally do not agree. You are not selling with the opening line. You’re buying. You’re buying time with your reader. If an opening line is compelling enough, the reader will continue on to...
I’ve been interested to notice how this topic has caused so much debate amongst Christian writers. Undoubtedly, it is a fairly controversial issue, and I respect each individual’s own convictions on it. That being said, this issue for me is fairly straightforward: I do not include curse words in my writing. From a...
Everyone loves a good Christmas movie. Here are the top 15 clichés one can expect to find in almost any holiday flick: The foreign sports car breaks down in a blizzard and the city slicker gets stuck in a barn with a bucktoothed chicken strangler with an iq of 7 whom he decides, through love...
Everyone is familiar with the agony and the ecstasy of the sports film. With so many different movies out there, it makes sense that certain themes would start repeating. Here are 12 clichés one can find in almost any sports movie: The Up-Rise of the Underdog In this classic cliché, with the game...
If there were one message I would like to send to potential writers it is that WRITING IS FUN! To help illustrate this fact, this section is entirely designed to make you laugh, smile, or groan depending on how you care for my offbeat sense of humor. Let me know any suggestions you have, and...
Writer’s Block: This odious scourge has afflicted every writer since books were written. The agony of sitting in front of a blank page or empty computer screen is unparalleled. Fortunately, there is help. Here are my top 11 tips for beating back writer’s block: Put the Pen Down: To many writer’s, this almost feels like...
