Casablanca’s Lessons for Writers

Casablanca’s Lessons for Writers

Over at Amatopia, the Daytime Renegade discovers the invaluable lessons that the classic film Casablanca has to teach writers. My wife and I watched the 1942 classic Casablanca few nights ago. It had been over a dozen years since I had seen it, and it was the first time for my wife.…
March 13, 20187 Comments
Outlining for Pantsers

Outlining for Pantsers

In response to L. Jagi Lamplighter's advice against outlining novels, commenter roughcoat asks the following: Funny that she gave the advice about not outlining. Not over-outlining, really. I've been struggling with exactly that recently. I'm a very inconsistent writer (productivity-wise) and I've been trying to nail down a process that…
February 28, 201811 Comments
L. Jagi Lamplighter Interview

L. Jagi Lamplighter Interview

L. Jagi Lamplighter Wright, my lovely and talented editor, and an accomplished author herself, recently gave an interview to the fine lads at Geek Gab. If you're an aspiring author, or even an old hand who knows there's always room to grow, don't miss this writing advice from one of…
February 27, 20185 Comments
Where Do Ideas Come From?

Where Do Ideas Come From?

"Where do you get your ideas?" Writers get this question often. It doesn't lend itself to a simple yes/no answer, so I'm gonna go in-depth with this one. Where ideas come from: Some are lifted from books, movies, TV, etc. and I file the serial numbers off and recombine them.…
February 22, 20185 Comments
A Simple List

A Simple List

Author JD Cowan provides a simple list of steps that movie, television, comic book, and novel writers can take to avoid ticking him--and other civilized men--off. These four points are literally (in the actual sense of the word) all you need to do to get me to nod along and consume…
December 22, 201712 Comments
Sanderson’s Law

Sanderson’s Law

Authors are just as prone to cognitive dissonance when received wisdom about the publishing industry is challenged, as this series of tweets demonstrates. That tweet is not a statement of personal preference or opinion. It is based on objective market data. As of this writing, the top three books in…
December 12, 201719 Comments

Secret History vs. Alternate History

What is the difference between writing secret history and writing alternate history? How can authors mine the history of science to make feasible predictions about how technology might evolve? Do events unfold in a linear fashion, or is the one constant that history always throws curve balls? We endeavor to…
October 30, 20172 Comments
Fanfic to Pro Fic

Fanfic to Pro Fic

Today at 4:00 PM Eastern, join me and author Lucas Flint for the fun and informative season finale of Geek Gab: On the Books! Lucas will be dropping by to share his experiences as a former fanfiction writer who made the jump to professional author. Catch the show live and…
October 18, 2017
Work for Hire Pros and Cons

Work for Hire Pros and Cons

Over at Walker's Study, Bradford Walker informs authors about the pros and cons of work for hire projects. Here's Bradford: I'm talking about this because, if you are at all serious about paying bills by writing fiction, then you're going to consider taking Work For Hire contracts. That's you as…
October 14, 201711 Comments
How to Polish Your Prose

How to Polish Your Prose

In the latest installment of Geek Gab: On the Books, I draw from my editing experience to offer writing advice to aspiring authors. How do you avoid the most common writing mistakes made by new authors? How can authors identify and break bad writing habits? Why does second person POV…
October 5, 2017