James Preston Once upon a time my wife and were doing our second-favorite thing, sitting up late at night reading. Suddenly she yelled something like ARRGH or UGH and threw the book across the room, where the poor thing bounced off the wall and landed on the floor. The cat wisely jumped up and took […]

Elizabeth Essex My favorite things about any book is always the CHARACTERS—I like Pride & Prejudice more than Northanger Abbey, because I like forthright Lizzie Bennet more than I like silly but well-meaning Catherine Moreland. But I love Persuasion best of all because I LOVE sweet, kind, thoughtful, long-suffering Anne Elliot.  That is why I […]

Lori Freeland Does the blank page cause you anxiety? Do you have a scene that’s just not working? Do readers miss what you’re trying to get across? Using essay structure can help you start and finish clear, purposeful scenes. When we wrote essays in school, there was always a basic format to follow—OPEN with an […]

This month I chose an ‘en media res’ beginning. They can be fast-moving and titillating – but they're not easy! You need to clearly lay out the stakes, and since you don’t have time to flesh out a character, (and make us care about them) at least give us a rough idea of who the […]

Margie Lawson Clichés pop in a writer's mind as fast as lightning. They cover the bases.  Clichés roll onto your page like gumballs rolling out of a gumball machine. They require no more thought than swatting a fly. They fit like a pair of old shoes. They sound right, look right, feel right as rain. I get a bee […]