8 Great Acting Books for Writers

8 Great Acting Books for Writers

For those of you who want to pick up a few acting tools to learn how to create better characters, write more compelling dialogue, and craft stronger scenes, here’s a list of some of my favorite acting books for you.

Recommended Books on the Craft of Writing

Recommended Books on the Craft of Writing

Often when I teach a writing workshop, my students ask for my favorite books about the craft of writing. So here’ s my odd list—a combo of books about writing prose, screenplays, and even musicals to help you find the kinds of books you want to read to improve your craft.

How to Write When You Don’t Have Time to Write

How to Write When You Don’t Have Time to Write

We’ve all heard it a million times: to be a writer, you must write every day.

But in a world of jobs and kids and cooking and sleeping and shoveling snow, how are any of us supposed to find the time to sit down and write? Every day? Impossible…

First Draft Done. Now What?

First Draft Done. Now What?

I’m a novelist, so I know the feeling: You conquered your fear and started your novel. You wrote for months or maybe years. You survived the long desert known as “the middle.” You wrote your favorite parts; the parts that made you want to write the story in the first place. And then, you wrote the last sentence. Added the last period. The End.

10 Unique Books for Writers

10 Unique Books for Writers

Now that my debut novel has hit the Los Angeles Times bestseller list and garnered glowing reviews (including from The New York Times), other writers often ask which books helped me develop my craft.

Historical Fiction: History or Fiction?

Historical Fiction: History or Fiction?

I’m an art-historical novelist, so I’m very familiar with the on-going debate at the center of historical fiction: Is it the novelist’s duty to serve the HISTORY or the FICTION? Readers expect to learn something from historical fiction — to …

Writing a Successful Query Letter

Writing a Successful Query Letter

Bestselling author Stephanie Storey’s top 5 tips for writing a killer query letter. If you follow this advice, I can’t promise that you, too, will get your first choice agent, but I can promise that you will write a better query letter… And increase your odds of getting someone to read your manuscript.

Write Like An Actor

Write Like An Actor

Writers and actors SEEM so different don’t they? But they are really very similar, both striving to “live truthfully in imaginary circumstances.” This post will help writers begin to study the craft of acting to go deeper into characters, create more compelling scenes, and take their storytelling craft to the next level.