Recently, I was helping our youngest daughter with a writing assignment about medieval knights, and she told me she couldn’t think of an adjective to modify a certain noun. She offered a few ideas and then just sat there, stuck. I could only say to her what I encourage novelists with…

Structure is one area that beginning writers struggle with the most. We all know our stories should have suspense, surprise, drama, intrigue, and all sorts of other spicy elements. But how do we create a structure that delivers all of these elements? Over the years of working with writers as…

Right now I’m editing a novel by a writer who can’t seem to make up his mind regarding whether his story should be told in past or present tense. As a reader, I have a strong preference—past tense. As an editor, I have an even stronger preference—consistency…

When it comes to writing scenes for novels, writers would do well to behave like a good party guest—arrive late, and leave early. This is something we see all the time in film. We enter a scene as close to the climax as possible, and then leave either right before or right after the central conflict is resolved…

Determining the proper length for your novel is a key consideration when honing it for publication. On the one hand, you don’t want it to be too short, because that lowers the book’s perceived value. Although many readers are now opting for e-books, those still clinging to hard copies want to feel…

Many writers, especially first-time writers, are hesitant to hire an editor to help them prepare their manuscript for publication or to send out to agents and publishers. Ironically, this reluctance to engage with a qualified editor could be the very thing that stands between the writer…

What first-time author doesn’t dream of landing a lucrative book deal with a big publisher, complete with a six-figure advance, a book tour, media spots, the works? As lovely as this sounds, the sad reality is, these days such deals are about as rare as global warming skeptics at a meteorological…

What is a writer’s platform, and why is it so important? To answer the first question, your platform is your ability to draw attention to your name and your work. For example, are you a public speaker? Do you have a large following on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or other forms of social media…

Character development is the driving force of any good story, and yet, this is one of the most misunderstood elements of fiction writing. We’ve all heard of “flat” or “two-dimensional” characters. But how do we avoid this fatal flaw…

Something I see all too commonly in the fiction manuscripts I edit is an “info dump,” a chunk of exposition that bogs down the narrative by unloading a detailed character backstory or an elaborate—and lengthy—explanation of the story’s high concept and/or the history of the fictional universe…