I hate waiting. I know, I know. You’re probably saying, “but Jim, you should never hate something because hate’s a strong word.” And you’re completely correct. Hate is a strong, harsh, and deplorable word that should only be used in… Read More ›
Mastering the Craft
My top influences
I’m not sure if I’ve covered this topic and if I have then I apologize. I was filling out questions for an interview for another website and one of the questions asked about what book and/or author had influenced me… Read More ›
Healthy Writing 101
When I was a kid, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. Of course, it would change constantly. First I wanted to be an archeologist because I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Then… Read More ›
Can your bad guys be… “good?”
Good and evil, night and day, black and white, chess and checkers, Stephen King and James Patterson, and chutes and ladders. Everything in life has an opposite. Since authors write stories that model real life, even stories have that opposition… Read More ›
Step Three: Add just a pinch of detail and description
Now that I’ve covered the meat and potatoes of a “good story” let’s talk about what kind of seasoning you should add to your meal. When you eat your dinner, have you ever tried it and thought that it lacked… Read More ›
Step Two: Bring your conflict to a rolling boil
For some unknown reason, this series about how to write a “good story” has sort of developed into a writing as a recipe type of thing. That wasn’t really how I was intending to do, but sometimes as a writer… Read More ›
Step One: Don’t undercook your characters
I know for the past few weeks, I’ve been ranting about the essential questions concerning a “good story.” The first week I talked about why you must have a good story. The second week I gave an example of a… Read More ›
CRITD IV Cover Reveal
So, I’ve always wanted to write a ghost story. I my opinion, ghost stories can be found in every part of the world. So when I heard that the new Crossroads In The Dark anthology subject was going to be… Read More ›
You better have a good story…
You’ve all heard that saying before, ‘You better have a good story.’ Whether it’s your parents asking for an explanation, a friend asking about last night’s date, or even when you’re pitching a movie to an executive. The thing that’s… Read More ›
Freedom of Speech, but what about the Freedom to Write?
As Americans, we celebrated the Fourth of July this past Wednesday. The day is meant to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was 242 years ago that 13 colonies of the British Empire… Read More ›
The Writer's Apocalypse 