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THE WRITER’S CRAFT explores various principles, techniques, and guidelines to help authors of all genres improve writing and storytelling craft.

Revise Your Book, Hollywood-Style A novelist, screenwriter, and editor shares his take on a secret weapon for manuscript revision

[by John Robert Marlow]

Are you an author who

  • Has never tried using an outline?
  • Likes the idea of outlining, but gave up on it because it was too much trouble—or just didn’t work for you?
  • Uses an outline for initial story planning, but not for revisions?
  • Would rather have a root canal than use an outline?

If so, you’re not alone. Let’s […]

By |2024-01-20T16:56:42+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on Revise Your Book, Hollywood-Style A novelist, screenwriter, and editor shares his take on a secret weapon for manuscript revision
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How Do We Write about The Future Now That It’s Here? Tips for writing science fiction writing in the 21st century

[by Shannon Roberts]

Science fiction, as a genre, has often struggled to be taken seriously. Oh, it’s garnered some respect, a few classics, and a bucketful of noteworthy authors, but how seriously are we expected to take a class of fiction that still doesn’t even warrant its own section in too many bookstores?

By |2024-01-06T22:46:38+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on How Do We Write about The Future Now That It’s Here? Tips for writing science fiction writing in the 21st century
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POV Part II: The Third Eye A crash course in the “most complex element” of storytelling

In Janet Burroway’s book, Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, she describes point of view as the most complex element of fiction. This is because establishing point of view involves  tending to a complicated relationship between reader, author, and characters. Establishing a point of view and maintaining its consistency can […]

By |2024-01-06T21:02:31+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on POV Part II: The Third Eye A crash course in the “most complex element” of storytelling
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The Role of Mystery in Fiction An editor's take on the value of mystery in all genres of fiction

[by Peter Gelfan]

Unlike nonfiction, fiction’s motor doesn’t run on information, but on its opposite: mystery.

I’m not talking about mystery as a genre, but as the essential quality in all fiction that cultivates curiosity, stimulates the imagination, invites participation, and generally keeps readers reading. Every step of the reader’s journey should be fraught with questions, not only […]

By |2024-01-06T21:03:15+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on The Role of Mystery in Fiction An editor's take on the value of mystery in all genres of fiction
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Don’t Confuse Plot with Plot Event An editor's thoughts inspired by Robert Ludlum, Matt Damon, and Jason Bourne

[by Ross Browne]

It wasn’t all that long ago that the news hit Hollywood that Matt Damon was considering bowing out of his leading role as Jason Bourne. The untitled film he considered passing on would have been the fifth in a series based on a trilogy that we have Robert Ludlum to […]

By |2024-01-06T21:11:19+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on Don’t Confuse Plot with Plot Event An editor's thoughts inspired by Robert Ludlum, Matt Damon, and Jason Bourne
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Part III: Showing vs. Telling Rue the day you tell what's been shown

Almost every aspect of fiction writing can be analyzed by the degree to which you the author allow your reader to formulate his own pictures, thoughts, opinions and versions of your story. This is a delicate matter, certainly, because leaving too much out is just as much a travesty as directly telling the reader exactly what […]

By |2019-06-19T19:27:49+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on Part III: Showing vs. Telling Rue the day you tell what's been shown
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