In my last post, I covered some reasons why you might want to use a pen name. If you’ve decided to use a pen name, you now must decide which name to use. Even if you want to use your real name, you can still decide which form of your name to use. Read on… Continue Reading How to Choose a Pen Name
One of the first decisions to make in your author career is whether to use your real name or a pen name. You’ll need to know this to set up your website and start sharing your work. This decision is hard for many writers because each choice has advantages and disadvantages. It ultimately comes down… Continue Reading Should You Use a Pen Name?
Writing Stories is a Business Disclaimer: although this post discusses legal issues, I am not a lawyer, and nothing in this post should be taken as legal advice. If you’re like many other creative and imaginative people, you don’t like the idea of business. Business people wear suits in drab colors, sit in drab offices… Continue Reading The Novelist Gets Down to Business
In theory, humans could live without stories. In practice, few do. Stories play a major role in human culture. Stories aren’t needed for physical survival, but we need them for reasons that go beyond physical life. That’s because we’re more than physical beings. And stories can be deeply satisfying to our minds. Stories are a… Continue Reading Entertainment, Escapeism, or Essential: Why we like stories
What is Story Structure? Story structure is a framework for your story. It’s like a pattern for writing stories that keep moving at a good pace and come to a satisfying climax. You could also think of it as a map for your story. It tells you the points in your story when significant events… Continue Reading Story Structure Resources
Should You Write Fiction? How does this sound for a good Saturday morning? You’re sitting at your computer, typing away. You’re working on the fourth draft of your novel. For some reason, you just can’t make the ending come out right. And now, you’re out of ideas. Reality of Writing That’s the reality of being… Continue Reading Are You Meant to be a Writer?
Are you the kind of writer who wants to create something original? Something that reflects your unique personality? A story that isn’t an imitation of any best-selling author? And one that doesn’t fit neatly into any established genre? If so, you may be frustrated. Everything you write seems to have elements that echo authors you’ve… Continue Reading A Story Should be Novel and Timeless