by David Alexander Thirty-odd books ago, when I began writing my first action thriller, the initial installment of the Phoenix series (Leisure Books), I decided to take a critical look at the genre. I wanted to craft dynamic action scenes that would give the reader the most bang for the buck. I was anxious to…
1. “Today you are YOU, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than YOU.” (Dr. Seuss, Happy Birthday To You) 2. “Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me…Anything can happen, child. Anything…
Go, Spot. Go and find Dick. Go and find Jane. Run, Spot, run. Dick and Jane, the children’s book characters who taught an estimated 85 million children from the 1930s through the 1960s how to read, are back in print, and nostalgia-crazed baby boomers are scooping up the titles as fast as they are being…
Scene and sequel are two of the most important components of plot, but they also seem to be two of the least understood. If plot were an engine, scene and sequel would be the pistons powering the drive shaft. Writers striving to turbocharge their writing might want to fine-tune their use of scene and sequel….
by Laura Backes, Children’s Book Insider, http://cbiclubhouse.com Previously in the pages of CBI I have often written about the basic structure for children’s fiction: a character encounters an obstacle or conflict of some kind, and then resolves it through his or her own purposeful action. This makes up the events of the story, or the…
by Laura Backes, Children’s Book Insider, http://cbiclubhouse.com Great fiction appears effortless to the reader. The characters and setting are so real, the story so believable, that the reader is completely unaware of the author behind the words. The smoothness of the text belies the hours of hard work and practice that went into its creation….
A vivid setting makes your fiction more believable. It can also build the mood of your story, creating, mystery, suspense and even conflict. You can create vivid settings with some hard work and diligent attention to detail. Let’s try building a memorable setting ourselves. We’ll start with a simple setting and see if we can bring…
If there was ever any doubt about this being the golden age of sef-publishing, these statistics should demonstrate what a great time it is to be an author. Hugh Howey, author of the bestselling, indie-original science fiction series Wool, has published a report on independent author earnings from ebooks sold on Amazon. Here are some…
Publishers spend little or no money marketing new authors these days, which is a great reason to publish your own book. On-demand printing services such as Amazon’s KDP provide a nearly free way to get into print and sold through amazon.com. Best of all, you’ll make ten times as much on each copy as you…
Everyone has a story to tell. What’s yours? There’s no greater gift to share with your loved ones than the story of your own life. Whether you want to share your special moments with friends, family members, future generations, or the general public, it’s definitely worth the time to record the important events of your…
Build your characters like a pyramid, viewed from above. Your readers should focus first on your protagonist, who is at the top of the pyramid. Develop a multi-page character sketch for the protagonist before you write anything else. Be sure to include the protagonist’s flaw, because overcoming that flaw to solve a problem is what…
Have you always wanted to write a novel, but didn’t quite know how to get started? Or perhaps you had an idea-—maybe even a dream—that inspired you. You sat down to write, began typing with passion, but then got stuck. Sound familiar? If so, it’s not surprising. That’s happened to nearly all authors, especially when…