Being a writer means venturing into the most frightening parts of human existence — and revealing what we find. Because it’s virtually impossible to hide from vulnerability and still writeREAD MORE
Novel Writing
The ancient Greeks wrote that fate was an absolute, inescapable cosmic order controlled by a force even the Olympian gods couldn’t stop. Today we might take a more sober viewREAD MORE
There are many ways to ramp up danger in a story, but few work as well as creating a constant threat. Unlike a sudden crisis that’s resolved in a singleREAD MORE
Dialogue. Explosions. Storms. Shouting matches. Many writers stack sound on top of sound, hoping volume equals intensity. It doesn’t. If you want to pull your readers in, turn off theREAD MORE
The most memorable betrayals are rarely committed by obvious villains. They come from someone a protagonist trusts: a best friend, mentor, sibling, lover, or longtime ally. Writing effective betrayal scenesREAD MORE
A telephone rings in an empty apartment. A parked car appears outside a character’s home three nights in a row. A door is unlocked even though everyone remembers locking it.READ MORE
One of the fastest ways to raise the stakes in a story is to take options away from your characters. That may sound cruel, but fiction thrives on pressure. WhenREAD MORE
Some of the most compelling fictional characters are the ones split between who they are, what they want, and what they fear. As a narrative device, this dual identity createsREAD MORE
Fear is one of fiction’s oldest engines. While many plots are driven by what a character wants, a fear-driven plot is often fueled by what they’re afraid to lose. TheseREAD MORE
The strongest female protagonists aren’t defined by how much freedom the world gives them. They’re defined by what they do with the freedom they claim. That’s the heart of agencyREAD MORE