Practical guidance for fiction writers who want to strengthen story structure, character arcs, pacing, and point of view.
Sunday night I watched Scott Pelley interview director Christopher Nolan on 60 Minutes about The Odyssey that opens on July 17. At one point Pelley considers the grandiose epic movies and complex storylines Nolan’s known for, and the sheer number of people involved to bring them into reality. The following exchange really stood out to […]
For anyone who’s spent a lot of time here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, you’re familiar with pluff mud. It’s the thick, organic sludge of the salt marsh, the structure of the serpentine waterways that make our part of the coast so unique. (It’s also how we could tell from the opening scenes of
Last month I touched on the importance of identifying your ideal reader for your work in progress. The simple truth is that not every reader will want to read your book… and that’s exactly how it should be. The readers most likely to pick up your novel are the ones who already love books like
One of the best things a writer can do for their story is to take a step back and think about where their book will land in the marketplace. Yes, even before you’ve written the first draft. And especially before you head into revision. For a long time, I would’ve said my ideal writer looks
‘Tis the season of haunted houses! My husband and I went to one last weekend, hosted by a local brewery. Picture it: an outdoor maze winding along the bank of a salt marsh beneath the bright moon, smoke in the air, flashing lights, and people lurking behind dark windows and cracked coffins, waiting to grab
