“Why isn’t this in the past tense?” Was the question. “By definition, all stories occur in the past.” I was stumped. There I was sitting in my writing workshop, years into a novel about which I had thought of absolutely…
An inauspicious anniversary recently passed; it’s been a full year since I signed a contract with a literary agent to represent my novel. The day marked twelve months of suspense, frustration, and heartbreak at rejection emails worded with such tact…
Writers are alarmingly susceptible to certain overlooked and under-reported maladies. But early detection is key, and as a fellow author concerned about the well-being of his community, I implore you to take two minutes out of your day to review…
I am an expert at cleaning out my closet. I have been pushed by circumstance to get rid of many of my possessions again and again. But when it comes to my words—I’m not as talented. I have been thinking…
Fiction readers expect more of characters than they do of people in real life. In life you can have a person who does inexplicable self-destructive or transgressive shit, and friends and colleagues just shake their heads and say, “Oh, that’s…
Every fiction writer, it’s safe to say, has had the experience of writing something, then asking: “Where the hell did that come from?” Sometimes our next act is to delete it and try again, but on occasion we’re lucky, and…