Nothing makes me stop reading a novel faster than a poorly realized protagonist. Why? Because that character is the guide to a new world, and if he lacks credibility the whole story does too. Below, I have listed some examples…
The third year Novel Incubator partners are just two weeks away from beginning their third trimester. I can’t speak for the rest of my class, but it feels like getting out of bed and then having to place your feet…
For those of you who read my October 10, 2013 entry (“Purposeful Hoarding”), you will know of my penchant for hanging onto things (not so much balls of string as the archives of my life.) Somewhere in a box (probably…
In my younger and more vulnerable years, a writing instructor gave me a piece of advice I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since: “Be careful,” she said. “Every time that you interact with another person, you’re entering into…
Stories, with their powers to transport us to distant lands and imagine ourselves as others, are magical. But I’ll tell you a secret. The writing of stories is not magic. Writers are regular people. They are regular people who are…
You won’t find a Best of/Worst of post over here at Dead Darlings headquarters. We’re too tired from writing and revisioning and meeting class deadlines. Instead we decided to toast the new year by asking our writing colleagues to lift…