Story Questions: The Secret to Narrative Thrust

Story Questions: The Secret to Narrative Thrust

One of the most common reasons agents and editors pass on stories—and readers stop reading them—is a lack of narrative thrust. Narrative thrust is the engine that propels your story forward, beat by beat, scene by scene, chapter by chapter, from the very first word to...
How To Read Like a Writer

How To Read Like a Writer

This time of year, happiness is a blazing fire, a glass of wine, and a good book. Here in New England, where winters are long and cold and buried in snow, ‘tis the season for reading. My TBR pile is high—and so are my ambitions. Because while reading is one of my...
5 Ways Out of the Middle Malaise

5 Ways Out of the Middle Malaise

It happens to me with every novel. Usually somewhere in the middle, in that long swamp of scenes known as Act Two. Not writer’s block exactly, more like writer’s avoidance. A kind of insidious procrastination that erodes my sacred writing time. This week alone I found...

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