You may not write suspense novels. You may not even write mystery or thriller novels, but that doesn't mean you don't need to add suspense to a story. Any type of book can use the spice of a little, added suspense. And all stories need at least some deadlines and...
Anyone a fan of The Maltese Falcon? How important is the Maltese Falcon in the story? Well, it’s ALL important and in the end, not important at all. The item itself turns out to have no real value to anyone—but what makes it important is it gets the characters and...
Writing point of view in fiction. It's a big deal. Choosing one point of view over another or one type of point of view over another can completely change the story you are telling. Writing point of view badly or sloppily can ruin the story you want to tell. Point of...
If you ask a writer what they hate about writing, writing a synopsis may very well be their answer. Why do writers hate writing a synopsis of their book? I mean they wrote the book. They know the book. Hopefully, they at least somewhat like the book. I think it's...
A while back Kathy Steffen and I taught a great group of writers from the Romance Writers of New Zealand what I consider to be the very first step in writing any book—nailing the Goal, Motivation, and Conflict of your main characters. (Also known as GMC: Goal...
A lot of writers hear that romance is the number one selling genre and with that in mind decide they want to write a romance novel. Let me start by saying I think that is a horrible reason to want to write a romance novel and one that is laden with possibilities for...
Blog – Short for web log. Basically a public journal, but easy to update—no need for an ftp program and others can post responses just as easily. (The) Cloud or Cloud Computing - Documents and programs available via the "cloud" aka the Internet rather than on your...
So, you are set up with a domain name, you have a place for your site to live (aka web host) and you have a pretty new design filled with...what? As a writer, what content should your site have? Let's start with the absolute MUST HAVES. First and foremost, your BOOKS!...
Great and funny video on the obsession that is checking numbers like Amazon rankings, and now, if you are self-publishing on Amazon, the ACTUAL sales. It's also a great example of an entertaining video that will promote your book and that people will actually want to...
