Recently, I’ve enjoyed magical days during which I’ve clocked ten thousand or more words. This blessed outpouring came during my recently released Decisive Moment and has taken place again during my ongoing work on episodes 1 and 2 of my Tracking Jane series. Trouble is, this doesn’t always happen. Sometimes I barely squeeze out five […]

In both my reading and writing, I’ve always struggled with flashbacks. As a reader, I’ve trudged through my fair share of voluminous, interminable flashbacks, wondering when I’m getting back into present action, and quite honestly, at times feeling like I’m in a lecture hall while my professor/author data-dumps all he knows about a situation and/or […]

If like me, you write or enjoy reading action-based fiction, nothing can kill a passage like the over-use of “to-be.” Maybe Shakespare’s Hamlet did ask a critical question, and as a guiding principle for what follows, we’ll answer it with a qualified “not to be.” Passive voice and just being I’m not going to get […]

Who do I write for? We should always know our intended audience, I heard somewhere. But even if we intellectually know them, do we consistently and unequivocally write for their benefit? I’ll tell you my short answer and then expand. I write for my readers. I write for their enjoyment and, if I can manage […]

Have you ever read a book or story description that claims it is “character-driven”? What exactly does it mean for a character to drive a story’s plot? Is the author sitting at the keyboard while a bunch of unruly characters make him write this and that? Well, yes. No. It’s complicated. Maybe an example will […]