We all want to write effective fiction. At its most basic, fiction is just words in a row on page. We organize the words into…
Author
Category: Writing
Here’s a question: how do successful authors write? Lawrence Bloch, the award-winning mystery author, wondered the same thing. He surveyed authors on the NY Times…
The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last. –Oscar Wilde Tension is the engine that propels your story. Tension is what keeps readers turning…
Some years are better than others for movies. In 1941, for example, both Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon were nominated for best picture. For many years, the former…
Folklore is all around us. We swim in it, often without realizing it. To quote Wikipedia, “folklore is the expressive body of culture shared by…
I admit it. I love Pixar movies. Whether it’s Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Wall-E, or any number of other features, I can watch them over…
What makes a compelling character? It would be great if there were a definitive answer that question, but of course there’s not Nonetheless, there are…
Copyright is one of those things that sounds simple but turns out to be confusing and complex once you start looking at it. Confusing or…
What is “point of view,” anyway? In movies, the camera provides the point of view. That’s easy. But in fiction it’s more…