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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.

Yul Brynner’s Black Hat Considering good vs. evil in fantasy fiction

Bad guys and black hats are, in the classic American Western film, almost synonymous.

Even if you haven’t seen many Westerns, you’ve probably absorbed this knowledge via cultural osmosis—I certainly had.

Fortunately, the first Western I was privileged to watch was The Magnificent Seven (if a cowboy movie based on […]

By |2024-01-06T21:53:15+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on Yul Brynner’s Black Hat Considering good vs. evil in fantasy fiction
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The Writer’s Secret Weapon: The Power of What You Leave Out Editor Renni Browne explores the value of what’s left unsaid in good storytelling

Here’s an excerpt from a writing contest entry where a man is driving to San Diego with the servant girl he’s just given a Rolex watch—a girl who gave him something he valued much more:

Amir’s assignment had been to gain access to Bonnie Becker’s house, using Marie’s position as a live-in domestic with lawful possession of the keys and […]

By |2024-01-06T22:00:05+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on The Writer’s Secret Weapon: The Power of What You Leave Out Editor Renni Browne explores the value of what’s left unsaid in good storytelling
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Writing Mysteries Guides, tips, and recommended reading for mystery writers

[by Ross Browne]

A quick word of caution to the aspiring mystery writer…

For its enduring popularity as a genre, mystery is a surprisingly tough genre to break into for new writers, and in some respects one of the hardest genres to write. This is in part due to the procedural know-how a writer must have to write […]

By |2025-07-03T17:31:39+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on Writing Mysteries Guides, tips, and recommended reading for mystery writers
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What Writers Can Learn from Lee Child & Jack Reacher A lesson in handling exposition in mystery and suspense novels

Exposition: a discourse of information. (Often necessary, but also challenging to handle skillfully.)

In an earlier post for mystery writers, I talked a little bit about the value of resisting the urge to lecture your readers on what you might have learned in the course of researching your story or what you might know from your own in-the-trenches […]

By |2024-01-19T23:26:21+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on What Writers Can Learn from Lee Child & Jack Reacher A lesson in handling exposition in mystery and suspense novels
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Words That Earn Their Keep

Economists talk about Gresham’s Law—in simple terms, bad money drives out good. When a country goes off the gold or silver standard in favor of paper money, many people hoard gold or silver coins. Which would excite you more, a shoebox full of paper money, or a handful of $20-gold pieces? For most of us, gold coins […]

By |2024-01-06T22:40:33+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on Words That Earn Their Keep
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The Mystery Writer’s Toolbox For mysteries (of course) and just about any genre of plot-driven fiction

[by Shannon Roberts]
mystery_manQuestions. Motives. Clues. Red herrings. Villains. Suspense.

All of these are elements in any good mystery. And all of them should be elements in your novel—whether it be science fiction, literary fiction, family or historical drama, horror, romance, or something else entirely.

Any good story is driven by […]

By |2025-07-03T16:16:24+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on The Mystery Writer’s Toolbox For mysteries (of course) and just about any genre of plot-driven fiction
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