What makes a Great Clue? Writing Lessons from Masters of Mystery Before I turned ten, I devoured The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Sometimes I read by myself but often I read out loud with my father, who loved Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories and recited passages from memory with great dramatic flair. His favorite, and mine, was […]
Category Archives: Writing Tips
The Long Shadow of Raymond Chandler…
The Long Shadow of Raymond Chandler… Raymond Chandler changed my life. I was assigned to read The Long Goodbye for class, and although only five chapters were assigned, I devoured the whole book in one night. As a young writer, I wasn’t sure what sort of stories I wanted to write, but Chandler’s prose, […]
Tweet This: Social Media Has a big impact on Nonfiction
Tweet This: Social Media Has a big impact on Nonfiction The benefit of writing a nonfiction mystery story this way is that you can transport the reader into the narrative so they get lost in its pages. One of the best techniques to draw the reader in is to paint a picture of what […]
The Balancing Act: Keeping Your Series Fresh for New and Existing Readers
The Balancing Act: Keeping Your Series Fresh for New and Existing Readers I have a photograph of myself taken years ago inside a hotel room in York, England, where I’m reading Peter Robinson’s novel In a Dry Season. To this day, it’s one of my all-time favorite mysteries. Peter had already written several Inspector Banks […]
Six Reasons You’re Not as Creative as You Could Be
Six Reasons You’re Not as Creative as You Could Be Years ago, I attended a writers’ conference. After my speech was over, I sat in on a talk given by a writing professor, and what she said has stayed with me ever since. A woman in the audience lamented that she wanted to write, […]
Creating Compelling Plots
Your Mission: Creating Compelling Plots Sheesh! Give me a more difficult question, please! I’ve been writing novels for over 30 years, and I can tell you how to be a soccer referee or fly an ILS approach to minimums, but explaining and taking apart plot requires some thought. But as all of us authors should […]
The Perverse Life of a Novelist
The Perverse Life of a Novelist The first time you get to experience something is so sweet. You feel exalted the first time you see a movie you love, like Groundhog Day, you see a play you love, like Hamilton, you see a show you love, like Magic Mike Live in Las Vegas, you read […]
Seven Rules for Writing Science-Based Fiction
Seven Rules for Writing Science-Based Fiction Fiction with a scientific angle has seen a major renaissance in recent years, from The Martian to The Circle to apocalyptic novels like Wool. Movies such as Interstellar, Life, Avatar, and Arrival have captured the public’s imagination with their science-heavy themes. What’s going on here? Isn’t this the age […]
TEN TIPS FOR WRITING CRIME FICTION
TEN TIPS FOR WRITING CRIME FICTION (SOME MORE SERIOUS THAN OTHERS) 1. READ! I know this sounds blindingly obvious, but I’m constantly amazed by the number of people I meet who tell me they are writing something, then stare at me blankly when I ask them what kind of stuff they enjoy reading. Every […]
The Key to Creating Great Characters
The Key to Creating Great Characters Among the great strokes of good fortune — and there were many junctures where I could have gone awry — was the decision to write about, via fiction, my small marina family at Tarpon Bay, Sanibel Island, Florida, where I was a fishing guide from 1974 to 1987. This […]
Top Ten Tips On How NOT To Become a Mystery Writer…
Top Ten Tips On How NOT To Become a Mystery Writer… Are you a mystery lover with a yen to write your own novel but unsure how or where to start? Do you have a great character or winning plot in mind but just can’t get past an opening chapter or two? Rest easy: banishing […]
10 Tips from the Paris Review’s “Art of Fiction”
10 Tips from the Paris Review’s “Art of Fiction” When I was in my early twenties, I had the privilege of watching one of the greatest writers of our time, Ron Rash, do what he did best: work. Ron was always methodical, everything set just so. A glass of tea here, maybe a photograph there, […]