Author, Compulsively Readable Thrillers
You already know you don’t need dialogue tags other than “he/she said” or, occasionally, “he/she asked.” Often, however, you don’t need a tag at all, if you couple it with a character’s action. That action, BTW, will tell you more about a character’s frame of mind than a bunch of words. Examples: Ellie ran a … Read more
I talk about character backstories and how to write them here. Basically, I believe they’re the best way to get to know your characters and what motivates them. How passionate or emotional they are. What their style of interacting is. The lengths they’ll go to to achieve their goals. A backstory will help you create … Read more
We’ve heard the cliche “Less is More,” but what does it mean? Is it just something Chandler and Hammett fans thought up? British crime writing is more florid, and it’s allowed to be. So what is it all about, anyway?
Let’s move onto language. Are you a language person? What does that mean? Even if you’re not, what do you need to know about the prose you write? The main point is that language has power. Listen on…
You’ve heard it over and over: “Show, Don’t Tell.” But do you always need to do it? And just how do you do it without making the book a lot longer than it should be? Watch this. I talk about both Lee Child and Michael Connelly’s work.
When I finished my first manuscript and sent it to an editor, she broke the news to me that my characters sucked. That they weren’t believable, they did things because I wanted them to, not because it was in their nature. I learned the hard way that I’m really not in charge of my characters … Read more
One of the best writing tips ever comes from the late Elmore Leonard, who said: “Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.” In other words, those long, boring descriptions of setting, mood, internal thinking, etc. Here’s the bottom line: If you’re bored reading them, the chances are good your reader will be … Read more