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Villains Are Characters Too / Maggie Toussaint

Villains Are Characters Too by Maggie Toussaint Writers often use “antagonist” and “villain” interchangeably. Though both labels may apply to the same character, there is a distinction. An antagonist is a plot role. They aren’t necessarily evil. However, they are opposed to the protagonist, and their opposition drives the story conflict. In short, antagonists spend […]

Formula or Creative Freedom? / Mike Nemeth

Formula or Creative Freedom? by Mike Nemeth You’ve finished your first novel and you’re proud of it. Your friends and family are proud of you. You may be savvy enough to predict the obstacles you face: early readers who misunderstand the story, rejections from agents, criticism from editors, an unexpected lack of interest from the […]

Fiction: Dark & Light / John Hegenberger

Fiction: Dark & Light by John Hegenberger These days, there’s a heavy-weight emphasis on dark fiction. You can go to any number of “Noir at the Bar” events in major cities across the country. It’s as if the criminal element of popular fiction has won the battle against the dogged or clever detectives, and we […]

The Joy and Heartbreak of Changing Series Characters / R.G. Belsky

The Joy and Heartbreakof Changing Series Characters by R.G. Belsky Gil Malloy has been my best friend for the past several years. We’ve been through a lot, Gil and me. Happy moments, sad ones, career success, scandal, near-death escapes from killers, Gil’s broken marriage, a second try at that marriage and a few torrid romances […]

Finding Your Voice / D.P. Lyle

Finding Your Voiceby D.P. Lyle So, you’ve sent your manuscript to an agent or an editor, and now you wait. Will they like it? Will they take you on as a client or publish your work? What makes them decide? Is it the unique premise or clever plot? Maybe the colorful characters? Or the snappy […]

Building Characters the Hard Way / Roger Johns

Building Characters the Hard Wayby Roger Johns Before I turned to mystery writing, I spent nearly twenty years teaching in collegiate schools of business. During those years, I had literally thousands of career-oriented conversations with my students. In the beginning, I often asked them “So, what do you want to be?” Eventually, I realized that […]

How Writing Nonfiction Made Me a Better Storyteller / Charles Salzberg

How Writing NonfictionMade Me a Better Storytellerby Charles Salzberg I honestly can’t remember the first time I decided I wanted to be a fiction writer. Maybe it was soon after I learned how to read. Or maybe it was the first time I realized the magic of the written word, that it could take you […]

Character Naming: A Very Important Process / D.P. Lyle

Character Naming: A Very Important Processby D.P. Lyle How important are character names? Do they make or break a story? Can a name suggest a character’s personality? To answer these questions, let me share something I learned from a master of crime fiction—-Elmore Leonard. It was many years ago at the now-defunct Maui Writers Conference […]

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