Tricks For Creating Believable Dialog
The one thing that new writers probably do worse than anything else (other than maybe spelling and grammar) is writing dialog. They want to make it "real" and like how people actually talk. They figure
The Dreaded Writer’s Block
I could beat around the bush and make you wait until the end of this, but I'll save you some time...writer's block does not exist. There. I said it. In fact, I'll say it again: writer's block does not exist.
Government Mud-pies
I'm getting ready to start prepping the next novel. As with all fiction writers, that means that I need to develop characters, settings, and situations which are relatable and compelling enough to make a reader want to slog through several hundred pages of my imagination. But there's something that I do, being a SF/F author, that authors in other genres don't have to: I have to create worlds. It's amazing how difficult it is to do that if your goal is to have coherent rules that can be
Eye of the Reader
Being a writer-type person, I sing to the most under-appreciated cog in the machinations of writing: the reader. I'm not talking about those people who buy what you've written and read it. No, I'm talking about those people who read and critique your work before it's published. The good ones are the heroes of all writers, second only in importance to the Muses.
Getting Help
A caution for all of those writers who are floundering with their own plots—don't stay inside your head, be willing to ask someone you trust to help give you a new perspective.
The Process
For me, the most difficult part of writing is the "what do I write next" part. When we compound that with my firm stance that there is no such thing as writer's block, just writers not willing to err, then the situation is ripe for creative conflict.
