Dune…desert planet…no dialogue. Before we plunge ahead in our ‘sit-still’ suits, I promise to work very hard to avoid any ‘spoiler alerts.’ Though, in my defense, this story has been around since disco was cool. Also, feel free to disagree with my opinion, just please do so politely. Videophiles and cinephiles will LOVE this movie. […]

The wound is critical for creating dimensional characters and, thus layered stories. Ah, the masks we wear. We all have them because it’s impossible to be fully human and devoid of cracks. We all have a wound. In fact if you make it past childhood you’re probably carrying around more than carry-on baggage (more than […]

Drama is the lifeblood of all good storytelling. In our modern world, where audiences have billions of choices regarding how to spend their time? Drama needs to be in everything we create if we hope to get so much as a passing glance. I don’t care if it’s a novel, a podcast, a documentary, or […]

Silencers. Yes, today our visiting expert, Piper Bayard from the writing duo Bayard & Holmes is here to do some myth-busting. The movie industry seems to believe one can use a silencer on everything. ***Yet another peeve for many who are even remotely knowledgable about the gun world and how things actually work. I get […]

Fight scenes are essential when it comes to so many genres, which is one reason that one of my all-time favorite courses I’ve ever taught was Bulletproof Barbie. The second reason that was my favorite class? As an editor and avid reader, nothing can make or break a story—on the page or on the screen—like […]

Podcasting obviously isn’t a good fit for everyone, but writing, branding, and life are not One-Size-Fits-All. I’ve made it my personal mission to not only help writers hone their craft (great books sell better than rambling crappy books), but also to demystify branding. I GET that most writers are also working a full-time job and […]

Image via movie ‘Black Swan’ Plot twists are very common in all forms of fiction from a short story (The Lottery) to novels (Gone Girl) to the screen (Vanilla Sky). Mysteries, by their very nature, demand the author understand plot twists and be able to use them well. The ‘kissing cousin’ genres—thriller, suspense, horror, and […]

Binging is big business. Series are HOT, HOT, HOT! As in hotter than ever in the history of fiction. Granted, humans have always had a proclivity for gluttony. It’s just that, until very recently, we were limited. We simply didn’t have so much content and instant availability. This said, series have always been popular. When […]

Writer’s block is a very controversial subject in the publishing world. Everyone has an opinion and everyone is right. Okay, maybe not everyone. I am right…and also NUMBER ONE AT HUMBLE! *gets cramp patting self on back* I believe that, when it comes to discussing writer’s block, there is a real danger of oversimplifying a […]

Ah description. Few things can make a writer’s skin tingle like glorious prose, right? A couple posts ago, I gave y’all some editing tips. In the meantime, I also mistakenly stumbled across an audio book that should be charged with assault, ergo why we are talking about description today. Can we be really honest about […]