You can possess your readers by mastering only one technique. 

Most movies are eerily similar to other movies.  Nearly all romantic movies are the same story.

The idea that stories must have an exciting, action-packed beginning is false.

Subtlety allows readers to think something else is going on, something hiding, something faintly suggested.

Beginning writers must learn that their readers can’t visualize what the author sees and feels unless the author tells them.

What happens when opposing views come into conflict? That’s when trouble appears.

How can we impart knowledge, wisdom, and kindness to our relatives, friends, neighbors, and coworkers, without sincerity?

A common problem beginning authors have when writing in first person is to overuse the word, “I.”

To keep a steady pace, you must keep an unsteady pace.

Why are there numerous sites devoted to Top-10 Movies, Top-10 Fiction Books, and Top-10 NFL players, but none for Top-10 Paragraphs?

It's your job as the author to answer questions, not the reader's.

Few articles are written about how to get fictional characters to act. This article explains how to do it.

A story that is not relatable is of little use to anyone no matter how clearly it is written.

Critiquing other people’s manuscripts of fictional works is fun for me because I start off with a declaration saying, “My comments are my...

When I’m reading a story, and one character says to another, “We’ve talked about this,” my mind is thrown from the story.

If you accelerate or decelerate unevenly while driving a vehicle, your passengers will feel jerked around. Don’t jerk your passengers.

When your prose is effective, your readers will become someone else in a different time and place.

For years, critics kept telling me my stories didn’t have enough conflict. Reviewers would write, “Your characters have it too easy.”

Every author has what literary experts call voice. It took me years to realize that voice simply meant the author's unique writing style.

As you write every sentence of your story, read each one aloud and ask yourself, “Is this sentence easy to read, and is it enjoyable?”

I've noticed throughout my study of literature that sidekicks and supporting characters are more interesting than their main counterparts.

Pieces of your themes must be touched upon repeatedly—wiggled—so your readers will keep in their minds the central messages of your tale.

Before you can successfully break a grammatical or well-established rule of fiction, you must first master the rule.

The subject of characterization has brought me stress for many years because everyone has a different idea of what characterization means.