Classic 12-Chapter Murder Mystery Formula
(Note: This has been floating around the internet for years, and I don’t know who first wrote it (if anyone does, let me know!) but it’s worth...
Helping Writers Become Authors
There are a few writers out there for whom the act of structuring and planning a novel is as much joy and fun as the writing of...
Pulp Adventure Generator
I stumbled across this the other day, and it’s just too cool not to share! Grab your 10-sided dice, because someone has turned Lester Dent’s classic Pulp...
How to Write a Murderously Good Mystery
On her excellent writer’s blog, writer Karen Woodward has written and put together a fantastic collection of articles on writing mysteries that anyone wanting to move into...
Plotting Thread
As I discussed in Prepping Your Novel, there are a vast number of different ways you can go about plotting a story. Currently in the Writer’s Cafe...
Tom Cruise on The Nerdist Podcast
After having seen the amazing film Edge of Tomorrow on the weekend (go see it, now!) I noticed the Nerdist podcast had an interview up with Tom...
Why Your First Draft Should Suck (and That’s a Good Thing!)
I’m a couple chapters in to my newest work-in-progress, and it kinda sucks. But that’s okay, in fact, that’s great! Let me explain. Of the many pieces...
The Technique of Mystery
In my travels across the net, I recently came across a book from 1914 by Carolyn Wells called The Technique of Mystery. This book is her thoughts...
How Much Should You Write a Day?
Yesterday, I made a post about Tracking Your Writing Progress using a spreadsheet in an effort to develop good production habits. After I posted it, a friend...
Tracking Your Writing Progress
While you wouldn’t normally associate the art-driven author with something numbers-driven like a spreadsheet, the two actually go very well, together. Many authors use Excel and Google...