Getting your Inner Journalist on… Reporting Techniques That’ll Enhance Your Fiction Though it sounds counterintuitive, reporting techniques can greatly enhance your fiction. I wrote journalism and literary nonfiction for two decades before ever attempting to write fiction, but when my second memoir didn’t sell, I took the plunge. The transition was slow at first, but […]
Category Archives: Writing Tips
How to Write the Book you’ve Always Wanted to Write
How to Write the Book you’ve Always Wanted to Write If you want to write a book, there are six things you need to find. You don’t have to look far. They’re inside you! Find a critically acclaimed book that you admire. Read it once, making a list of events in each chapter. Then make […]
TEN TOP TIPS FOR WRITING ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
TEN TOP TIPS FOR WRITING ROMANTIC SUSPENSE I’ve written more than twenty-five romantic suspense novels, so over the years I’ve learned some good guidelines for writing successfully in that genre. Here are ten suggestions, not necessarily in the order of importance—it all matters. HAVE A HOOK FOR THE BOOK: Think of this as having […]
Dead on: Ten Secrets to Writing “Killer” Romantic Suspense
Dead on: Ten Secrets to Writing “Killer” Romantic Suspense What is romantic suspense? Many people believe any romance that includes a mystery or suspense subplot constitutes romantic suspense. In my mind, however, a romantic suspense novel mixes both genres fairly equally. One strand—romance or suspense—does not significantly overwhelm the other. From the beginning of […]
Top Ten Tips to Survive a Writers Conference
Top Ten Tips to Survive a Writers Conference Tip #1: Begin with the end in mind. You’ve heard this phrase, I’m sure. I find it’s a great practice with conferences. You’ve chosen to put your time, energy and money into attending a writers’ conference. How do you want to feel when you get home? […]
The Ten Essential Books for Aspiring Writers
Even the best writers can learn from others tips and tricks and ideas for how to conquer the empty page. I love recommending my favorite writing books, singling out a specific title here and there depending on what the writer needs. Focus, editing, plot––there is something for every part of the process. I’m recommending these […]
Writing Tip: The Importance of Using Newspapers for Research
The Importance of Using Newspapers for Research Reconstructing a Family Member’s Life Story through Newspaper Research As a family history researcher with almost twenty years of experience, I can say that genealogy research sites and online databases are better now than ever. And with all sorts of new technology designed especially for family […]
Writing Tip: How to Write About the Past
Why the past is the toughest assignment of them all… Writing Tip: How to Write About the Past “Don’t you know, you can’t go home again,” as Thomas Wolfe was famously warned, but I have done so, for my writerly sins, returning at the age of thirty-five with my young family to the small rural […]
From Spenser to Sherlock Holmes: How authors deal with aging detectives…
From Spenser to Sherlock Holmes, how to keep detectives young while writing a book a year…. Age is a tricky concept in crime novels. What I’m referring to is the age of the sleuth figure. When this sleuthing person gets involved in tracking a killer, it’s essential for the sake of believability that he or […]
THE LOCKBOX IN EVERY AUTHOR’S CLOSET
THE LOCKBOX IN EVERY AUTHOR’S CLOSET I was a curious kid. When I was thirteen, I became convinced I was adopted. I couldn’t possibly share the DNA of the people who sat around the dinner table at our house each night. My dad sold insurance. My mother was a stay-at-home mom. My five siblings […]
Writing a short story is the key to being a better writer…
About a year ago, Colin Kearns, my editor at Field & Stream, asked me if I were interested in going to Cuba. Havana, tooling through Old Town in a pink and white Chevy Bel Air, Papa Dobles at the El Floridita, fly fishing in the Bay of Pigs, and the world’s most beautiful women everywhere […]
Writing Tips: Who Needs Rules to Write?
Writing Tips: Who Needs Rules to Write? “There are three rules for writing a novel,” W. Somerset Maugham once quipped. “Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” Anyone who’s set pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) knows this to be true. However, that’s never stopped members of the literati from offering advice in […]
