Easy. As any really good magician truly knows: “the trick is . . . to hide the ‘trick.’” Or for those of us who labored through Latin classes, back in the day, Ovid’s usually credited with: “the art . . . is to hide the ‘Art.’” [ Ars est celare artem. ] And whereas the …
I'll flat out say it, setting is almost always overlooked by a reader. I'm not even sure how much writers think about their setting. I mean, we tend to focus on our characters, the interactions, the personalities. In reality, a setting is simply a backdrop for the stories we mean to tell. Authors will spend …
The last but by far not the least of the 4 Tools in the Writer’s Toolbox: Dialogue. This may also be the most fun tool for both the writer and the involved & engaged reader. Afterall, who doesn’t like to over-hear someone else’s conversation – and who doesn’t really like eavesdropping on someone’s …
Is what lies ahead. Or so I was told in the animated version of The Hobbit from my youth. It's true, we can't go back and change the decisions of yesterday. We can only learn and grow from what came before. Focus on today and tomorrow. Take the next step in the journey that is …
I need your help. Covid has altered life for all of us. The most hard hit have been the small businesses across our nation. Over 100k small businesses have closed their doors for good as we all hunker down and hope that someday life will return. People forget that authors fall into the same category …
That’s the mantra for this segment of the N – A – D – D. And the focus here . . . “Description.” Of the 4 Tools in the writer’s Toolbox this one’s the most used, the least understood, and the easiest to resort to for writers with little know-how of Narrative, Action, …
Two months from today Trinity will hit the shelves. If you haven't had a chance, I would recommend checking out Genesis before that happens. The books are fairly stand-alone, but the first book gives some backstory on the main characters. My goal is to write a separate adventure with each new book that doesn't completely …
The 1966 Batman tv show featured words like these flashed on the screen to accentuate the hard-hitting action-packed images flashing across the screen. Batman & Robin pirouetted through fights, car chases, epic battles versus evil that served well the 30-minute narrative. Stories require episodes, events, and scenes, but storytelling required movement, speed, characters …
. . . Daddy!” “Read me a bedtime story, Mommy!” “Please? . . . ” We’ve all been there. Some of us, in both places, as listener – and reader. As a child. As the parent. And the art of “storytelling’s” as olde as bipeds have trod the earth. From before …
A yelp jolted Atom back from that darkness. Unlike the previous surfacing, Atom rose from unconsciousness to immediate and full alertness. He surveyed his surroundings with a practiced eye, tested his restraints, and formulated possibilities. The armored woman still stood beside the hatch, but she had donned her helmet. Atom recognized her height …
