What will your characters do?
From across the country for the past few weeks, we’ve been seeing how people react to needing to give up normal activities.
If you’re writing a novel, that information might prove useful. While I doubt your story involves a global pandemic, you can still apply these insights into human behavior.
If your novel has characters, it’s likely they … Continue reading
Cliffhangers still work.
The copy of The Warsaw Protocol by Steve Berry that my wife brought me from the library was labeled Rapid Read. Instead of three weeks, I’d have to complete the 384-page novel in just one.
That wasn’t a problem. Berry had used time-honored techniques to keep readers engaged. First, he used multiple point-of-view characters, alternating between their perspectives — with one … Continue reading
That’s the question people perpetually ask writers.
“If you ask a writer who has heard that same question dozens of times,” novelist Elizabeth Peters said, “she may come back with some snappy answer like, ‘There’s a drugstore in North Dakota where I order mine.’”
“The only possible answer,” Peters said, “is ‘Everywhere.’ You don’t get ideas; you see them, recognize them, greet them … Continue reading