Writing habits

World-building is an essential part of all fiction writing. Sure, with fantasy genres, writers have to create a whole new world (don't you dare close your eyes). But, If you're reading a novel set in New York, then you'd expect the author to tell how New York looks, sounds, and smells. You'd want to know absolutely everything about the people who live there, too.  Read more

There are so many moving parts an author needs to pay attention to when writing fiction-POV, character development, narrative structure, happy-hour specials-that it's easy to miss the small stuff, the things that we think we instinctively understand and already do very well.  Read more

When our writing resists us - when it refuses to do as we hope - we often respond with ever more force, pushing it to bend to our will. We ask a friend to tell us which "darlings" to murder. We go through with a red pencil, slashing words.  Read more

Born in Maine in 1947, Stephen King wrote his first published novel, Carrie, in 1974 and has spent the subsequent half-century documenting the monsters and heroes of small-town America. His rogues' gallery of characters runs the gamut from killer clowns and demonic cars to psychotic fans and unhinged populist politicians.  Read more

Philip Pullman waited 17 years before allowing readers back into the world of Lyra Belacqua, Joseph Heller took 33 to return to Catch-22, and George RR Martin is still keeping fans hanging for his version of the final struggle for the Iron Throne. The eight years readers have been waiting since the second volume of Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell trilogy may not seem much in comparison.  Read more