Plot Loosely, Plot Loosely

Three Benefits of Plotting Loosely When you do, you’ll accomplish three things that will make writing something sustainable—something you’ll be able to do with joy for the rest of your life—instead of turning it into miserable drudge work that leaves you longing to do ANYTHING else. What are these three things?  You’ll keep your main […]

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Don’t BREED Characters!

(photo credit: André Mouraux — see * and ** below) Don’t breed characters? Really? But (you may be thinking) my story NEEDS characters! It does. Does it need 100 of them, though, all named, most with tiny roles in only one scene, all who must be tracked through your eventual edits with the fine-toothed comb […]

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Write Only the Good Stuff

That seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? Clearly you don’t want to write bad stuff. But I cannot tell you how many times I’ve read a post or a blog or heard a writer say, “I can hardly wait to get through this chapter so I can write the one I’m excited about.” Have you ever […]

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More Than Moans and Clanks

Improving Un-fleshed Undead in Fiction      “I swear, Culbertson, there was something there.”      “But what was it, old man? There is no trace of foot or paw in the dust, no sign of passage in the cobwebs for any exit other than the one we stand in. Do you expect us to […]

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How to Sustain Motivation

I find it odd that I am writing a blog post on motivation, particularly on sustaining motivation. I don’t exactly have the best track record for it. I do a little, then stop, then do a little more, and so on. In November 2005, I finally finished a novel with the help of NaNoWriMo, but […]

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Writing “The Bones That Walk”

“There, Miss Jones, there they are — the bones that walk!” “I doubt you very much, Smythe. Why, I see nothing more than bare white bone. Where are the tendons, ligaments, or any other connective tissue? Where, I say! Why, there’s not so much as a shimmer of ectoplasm connecting THOSE bones. They float, perhaps […]

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