writing 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.

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 …

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.