Reading as a Writer

It has always been true that avid readers become better writers than their non-reading peers. Readers unknowingly gain an innate understanding of storytelling, a flourishing vocabulary, and vast knowledge about topics beyond their personal experience. As a published...

Conflict in Dialogue

Dialogue without conflict is talking heads. There, I’ve got it out in the open. In commercial, or genre fiction, dialogue makes up half of the novel with narration as the other half. This is why learning to craft great dialogue matters. Inexperienced writers tend to...

Dialogue: Abused and Misused

People recognize terrible dialogue when they hear it in movies, or on television or read it in books. It comes off wooden, robotic, confusing, lecturing, boring, or in some way artificial sounding. Examples abound in B-grade movies, comic books, soap operas, and...

Dialogue: When Characters Talk the Talk

Remember the last time you read dialogue, and it didn’t sound genuine? Something was off, odd, or not quite believable. Perhaps the wording did not suit the character. For example, unless a man is a decorator, painter, or artist, he won’t point to a color and call it...

How to Research a Topic

This is the time to master the narrow focus of your topic. Become more of an expert than you were. Research should uncover things that surprise you if you dig deep enough. Nail down the facts, look for experts, and read what they have published. Hunt for the details...

Interviewing Sources for Articles

Before you contact any person for an interview, research that person. Get to know the facts on that person before you approach him, before you mention the magazine you’re writing for. Who are his equals and rivals? Does he like or hate the media? Research the...