Often people who want to write a story start with a character or a general situation in mind: “A female superhero with a lasso of truth!” “Terrorists take the president hostage!” And these are certainly perfectly good places to start. But it’s hard to create much narrative drive from situations and characters. Look at those…

I’m an editor who is also a writer, but I would caution you to be careful of hiring an editor whose main experience is their own writing and revising process. Being a writer has certainly helped me understand what the writing and revision process is like (at least for me) and how it feels to…

A long time ago I wrote a novel I loved. Loved. It was a flawed novel, as many beginning efforts are, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t love it. I still love that novel, even though I’m perfectly well aware of its imperfections. I may in fact love it because of its imperfections. It is…

A common problem I often come across when editing fiction is a situation where characters are shoved around the story like chess pieces. Margie the protagonist winds up slapping her best friend not because Margie would ever slap her best friend but because the plot requires the best friend to be slapped. Authors often commiserate…

Authors often use beta readers to give them feedback on their work and I think this can be a great way to get a sense of a reader’s experience of the novel. That’s why I have a Beta Reads and Critique Partners forum for Club Ed for Writers members. A thoughtful reader can tell you…

I recently read The Story Paradox by Jonathan Gottschall, which is all about the dangers of storytelling. If you’re interested in learning how stories work, you’ll want to set aside some time to read this book. I wanted to talk about a point he makes early in the book, which is that stories where the…

When I’m writing, I rarely listen to music because the words of the lyrics interfere with my words. If I need to drown out the kids across the street, I will listen to white noise or an instrumental station on Pandora. Sometimes, though, if I’m doing something like giving feedback to students, where the lyrics…

We often talk about telling stories, but how to tell a story is something of a misnomer for novelists. A novelist needs to show the story. Undoubtedly you’ve heard the old advice, “Show, don’t tell.” And you may have heard that yes, indeed, you can and should sometimes tell. For example, you don’t need to…

If you’re struggling with your story, one of the best ways to get started is to use a common (that is, frequently used) plot structure. If you start writing with an idea of the kinds of story events that have to happen in your story, it is easier to focus on the other aspects of…