James Preston There’s an old joke about a tourist in New York who asks a native, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall.” They say to lead off with a joke, right? Well, I’ll lead off with half of a joke that’s older than many of the Writers in the Storm readers. (And notice I did not say, “Stop me […]

Christopher Lentz It came to me as I watched the musical Gypsy, the story about Gypsy Rose Lee, the top stripper of her day: great writing is a lot like a great strip tease. Before you think I’m vulgar or just plain creepy, think about it. The stories you love best—and your best stories—do an […]

Ann Griffin When, in my fifties, I learned of two cousins and an aunt I had never heard of, their story was so compelling that I decided it needed to be written, and I assigned myself the task. The protagonist and antagonist were both deceased, making it impossible to write it as biography, so I […]

Hannah McKinnon Nonlinear narratives – stories where events don’t happen in chronological order – are extremely useful for tension and pacing, but can be confusing to read and are notoriously difficult to write. Movies such as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and The Usual Suspects have nonlinear structures, as did the rom-com Sliding Doors. But visual […]

I'll admit it. I can write a scene that only a mother can love. One so sappy you'll need to test your blood for sugar afterward. A sure cure for insomnia. (as boring as all these old saws). And when the author knows it sucks, you can imagine the sheer volume of suckage I'm talking […]