How to Write Evil, Awesome Villains
Rebecca Harrison, Guest Contributor
Villains can be some of the most difficult characters to write and they can be the difference between a stagnant story and a powerful one.
When the Missing Ingredient in Your Story Is You
Miguel Flores, Guest Contributor
Few things we learn about writing are consistently applicable to every writer. One of those rare things is this: writing is hard.
Does Your Creativity Have to Grow Up?
Tineke Bryson, Staff Writer
Life throws many changes at us. They threaten an end to our creative ambitions. Whether it’s a job with no wiggle room for ideas, so much college homework you’re worried you’ll lose your love of reading, or a new life role (marriage, parenthood, anyone?), change has a way of making us feel like a naive idiot for calling ourselves a writer, an artist, an adventurer.
How to Become a Writer’s Best Friend
Rachel Garner, Staff Writer
In my previous post, I tackled the value of critique even when it hurts. Now I’m here with advice on how to create these worth-their-weight-in-gold critiques and how to minimize the necessary toe-smashing.
When Your “Perfect” Story Falls Flat
Daniel Schwabauer
I had re-written the novel, then titled Baht, in 2012, as 70,000+ words of first-person narrative. Only in writing the second-to-last chapter did I realize the book wasn’t working. Though it had a lot going for it (in my opinion, anyway), it still lacked something. It lacked oomph. Drive. A sense of compulsion. I wasn’t being pulled along by the story; I was driving the story ahead of me with a cattle-prod.