If the first 50 pages can be said to be the beginning of a book, then from page 51 up until about maybe thirty pages from the end can be called the middle. The middle is the longest part of any book, just like a chess game’s longest part is the mid-game. This is...
The beginning of a book should immerse us in your world right away. Don’t be coy about it, and don’t be disingenuous, either. Tell us what we need to know to make sense of things. Use plenty of detail. We want to get a nice feel for the setting, and we want to be...
If you’ve ever taken a class on literary theory, or read any amount of literary criticism, likely you will have heard the term “narrative arc”. It’s also likely you will have heard a large number of other literary terms as well, but you will find that I don’t concern...
The First Draft The first draft is the hardest of all to write. You’re creating something out of nothing. You’re pulling ideas from the limitless dimension of your imagination and trying to force them to fit into two-dimensional space--a cruel act akin to murdering...
Before you even begin to decide what your story is about, I recommend you devote some time thinking about another important aspect of storytelling: genre. What genre is this story going to be? Labeling it as such is not intended to take away your options. Instead,...
I have always tried to take advice from people who know more than I do, especially when it comes to writing. My mentor, Jack Kuniczak, told me long ago that I should always know where a story is going before I’ve gotten too far into it. For quite some time, I tried...
Humans are animals that run on food, water, and stories. We are obsessed with dieting and nutrition in our culture. If only we paid as much attention to the quality of the stories we took in as we do to our food, especially as children! Someone should invent a phone...
I’ve heard it said numerous times by many people that artists must suffer in order to produce great work. I happen to agree--except for those points on which I disagree. Firstly, you should never put yourself in harm’s way just to have something to write about. And,...
Many hopeful writers have told me they’ve gotten a story well under way, but were perplexed to find that they ran out of steam before even hitting the halfway point. They just couldn’t bring themselves to work on it any longer. They ask me why this is, as if I am...
Meet our new monthly columnist, award-winning author William Kowalski! This article is reprinted with permission from the book: WRITING FOR FIRST-TIME NOVELISTS, Practical Thoughts on the Creative Craft, by William Kowalski © 2014 INSPIRATION On The Need For A...
