As we prepare to launch Insomnia Publishing's newest release, First Favor (the third Sam Archer book), I am kind of reflecting some on the things I've learned about editing, publishing, and writing over the last few years. While I've been a bit quiet on the blog front, I've been very busy on the life front....Read More

In school, we are taught about "person" in terms of language. I, you, he/she/them--first, second, third. Right? Okay. With that refresher out of the way, let's take a look at the way these are related to POV.Read More

your antagonists to be exactly as robust as your main characters using the principles we looked at last week: flaws, strengths, and desires. These ideas work a little differently for the antagonists than they do protagonists, however, so let's dig into that a little and see what the differences are.Read More

racter doesn't mean you need to know their blood type, childhood nicknames, and the name of every romantic partner they've ever had (unless it's relevent to the story). Creating a realistic character means they have to act like a human being--which means they'll have flaws, strengths, and desires.Read More

Since we've been talking about the structure of individual novels this month, and I mentioned the way act three of a book can tie into writing a series, it's time I look at what it means to write a series and how we can use the three act structure and the Beat Sheet.Read More

Whether you're writing from first person or third person, you shouldn't write about things your POV character doesn't know. For example, if she doesn't know the person across from her plans to kill her, you shouldn't tell the reader that.Read More

This is likely to be cross-posted on my brand new blog about roleplay (both tabletop and freeform). If you’re interested in the subject of tabletop gaming or freeform roleplay, please consider subscribing! So, I’ve talked a lot about characters and their development on here, but I wanted to address something that is important to a...Read More

I’m broaching a controversial and sticky subject in this blog, and I want you to stick with me. This post isn’t going to be political because my opinions aren’t something I want to breach on this blog. However, it will touch the subject, and I know this is a difficult subject for us to discuss...Read More

One of the things new authors I know stumble on the most is writing tight prose. They often feel they need to make readers see things exactly as they are in their head, and this leads to overwriting. In their quest to make readers see what they see, they describe every little detail at length...Read More

My least-favorite type of writer is this one, and I’m sorry to be the mean one to say it, but it’s true. There are many of them in the world, and I never stop being frustrated by them. It’s the people who, when they put their work up and you critique it say: “This isn’t...Read More