
Writing Dialogue for Novels: Tips for Cursing and Swearing
I just finished reading an interesting post by a published author. This writer was lamenting the number of flaming criticisms that readers posted, objecting to the F* bomb in the author's Contemporary Romance novel.
While I heartily empathize…

Writers on Writing: The Hardest Profession in the World?
I don’t know why fiction writers seem so eager to express angst. It seems like the lion’s share of wit and wisdom expressed by authors, who are writing about their profession, focuses on one primary theme: that writing novels is HARD.
For…

Writers on Writing: Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain
Writers on Writing: Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain
As a child, I was familiar with Tom Sawyer, but I didn't fall in love with Mark Twain until my high school Language Arts class. We were studying The Adventures of Huck Finn, which begins with…

Writers on Writing: Advice from Ernest Hemingway
Writers on Writing: Advice from Ernest Hemingway
If you’re going to listen to writing advice, you might as well listen to the most acclaimed authors in the world, right? That’s why I’m featuring this series of posts based on fiction-writing…

Character Sources: Ideas for Writing Sidekicks
Personally, I never have trouble coming up with outrageous sidekicks for my heroes and heroines. (Yes, it’s a gift.)
Seriously, though, I love writing secondary characters, because they don’t have to walk such a tightrope of “heroism.” …

Writing Dialogue: Why Characters Shouldn't Talk Like Real People
I know, I know: you’ve been told the exact opposite about dialogue writing by every other fiction teacher and book writing coach on the planet. And they were right. To a point. Now I’m here to explain to all you hard-working fiction…

Write the Way a Stripper Dances: Tips for Starting a Novel
Tattling time . . . I’ve been judging submissions for a fiction-writing contest. I absolutely love finding new talent and encouraging writers to forge ahead with their publishing dream.
What I DON’T love is wading through reams of background…

Writing Resources: Name a Character or Insult a Bully
Every Mage needs an apprentice, every writer needs a Muse . . . And every character needs a name.
So what writing resources do I use to create zany names for my fantasy fiction? (What, you don’t think “Queen Hoodoo,” better known…

Texas Humor: Quips and Quotes from the Lone Star State
Today, I have Texas on the brain. And not just ‘cause I live here. I'm writing dialogue for a Texas protagonist.
I gotta confess: as a born-and-raised Yankee (Pittsburgh), I didn’t have a clue how to write authentic, Texas dialect…

Speed-Writing: Not Just for NaNoWriMo Any More
Writers are such creative geniuses, that they often psych themselves out. They procrastinate until they're freaked out and desperate to meet a deadline. (At which point, they become neurotic.)
Fess up. You KNOW you’re listening…