Ultimate Writing Guide: Presented With

’s
2017
Ultimate
Writing
Guide
presented
with
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Before You Begin Crafting Your World It’s in the Details
3 Five Tools to Give You a

Running Jump Over
20 How to Strike the Right
Balance of Fact and
32 The Three Mistakes Thriller
Writers Most Often Make
Writer’s Block Fiction in Historical HESTER YOUNG
OLIVIA FOX CABANE &
Fiction
JUDAH POLLACK FIONA DAVIS
34 You Weren’t There? So
What: Four Tips on
5 It Is Okay to Change Paths
22 Five Rules for Keeping
Fantasy Fiction Realistic
Writing Historical Fiction
TESS GERRITSEN GEORGIA HUNTER
CHRISTINE FEEHAN
7 Research, But Not Too Soon

36 Ten Non-Negotiable Rules
JULIA GLASS 24 Writing a New Series: A
Guide to Creating a World
for Hollywood Reporting
STEPHEN GALLOWAY
from Scratch
10 Write Commandments:
Six Steps to Turn Off Your
Internal Editor
MEG GARDINER
39 Six Rules for Writing Great
Detective Fiction
JILL SANTOPOLO 26 Using Narrative Voice in
Speculative Fiction
SUSIE STEINER
12 The Secret to Feeling at

Home as a Writer
SCOTT REINTGEN
41 Genre as Liberation: On
Learning to Manipulate
SWAN HUNTLEY 28 Four Tips to Transport
Your Reader
Thriller Tropes
LEE IRBY
14 Faulkner, Welty, and Goethe BIANCA MARAIS

Said It Best
43 The Fine Line between
JAN KARON 30 Two People and a Thing:
On Writing Climactic
Humor and Tragedy
JARED RECK
Moments
16 Four Things Every Writer
Can Learn from
Charlotte’s Web
ALICE MATTISON
45 How to Revise a Draft
Without Going Crazy
BRAD PARKS DINTY MOORE
18 The Infinite Joys of

Wasting Time with the
Dictionary
AMMON SHEA
2 2017 Ultimate Writing Guide

Five Tools to Give
You a Running
Jump Over
Writer’s Block
by OLIVIA FOX CABANE & JUDAH POLLACK
There is nothing worse than the late-night parties? If the continents have an easy time drawing it. You
blank page, or screen. It stares move so quickly, how do people can even use a series of square
back at you. Mocks you. It seems prepare for such fast-changing sea- frames like a story board to draw
to laugh like it’s ticklish at every sons? Do the rich move from conti- out scenes and write the captions
attempt you make to write a word nent to continent to stay in the best or dialogue underneath.
on it. In doing research for our weather?
book, The Net and The Butterfly, 3. TOUCH DIFFERENT TEXTURES
If you’re writing a character-driven
we learned how the brain achieves While writing is undoubtedly a
piece, change one rule of biology.
breakthroughs. Your brain’s cre- mental exercise, the genius lounge
Imagine people lived to 130 years
ative engine, what we call the takes in amazing amounts of sen-
old in excellent health. How would
genius lounge, and the tools we sory information. And our hands
this change the way people saw
created to access it can help with have veritable superhighways up
marriage, parenthood, careers?
writer’s block. Here are five tools to into our brains and our genius
help spark your insight and carry These exercises don’t have to lead lounge. Running your hand along
you over any bout of writer’s block. to what you’ll actually write about. a brick wall, touching a silk scarf,
But they will help spark your brain the feel of a chain on a swing set
1. CHANGE ONE RULE IN THE
into new places. – all of these will send igniting
WORLD OF YOUR GENRE
sparks into your genius lounge.
If you’re writing science fiction or 2. DRAW THE SCENE YOU’RE They will also, chances are, spark
fantasy, change one rule of nature. STUCK ON memories.
Imagine gravity stops working at Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be
ten PM. Or imagine the continents a good drawing. Stick figures work 4. MEMORY JUKEBOX
move around the earth at 100 mph. fine. But drawing accesses your ge- Memories are another way to spark
How is the world, how is the cul- nius lounge in a completely differ- your genius lounge to life. Some-
ture different because of this one ent way than words. When you’re times we ignore our memories be-
rule change? If gravity stops work- blocked on what to write you may cause we feel like we already know
ing at ten PM, how do you have
2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 3

them and they can’t give birth to lax, and close your eyes. of these things. Everything is
something new. But because our • Take two or three deep breaths. taken care of. You can sit back,
memories have neural connections As you inhale, imagine drawing relax, and enjoy whatever good
to parts of our brains that think clean air toward the top of your you can find along the way.
about the future and infer possi- head. As you exhale, let that air
bilities, our memories are keys to whoosh through you, washing
thinking creatively. So open up an away all worries and concerns.
old yearbook, look through your OLIVIA FOX CABANE AND JUDAH
• Pick an entity — God, fate, the
photos, and ask your parents what POLLACK are the authors of The
universe, whatever may best
you were like as a child. Net and the Butterfly.
suit your beliefs — you can
5. RESPONSIBILITY TRANSFER think of as benevolent.
We can often get blocked because • Imagine lifting the weight of

of our own fear that we will not everything you’re concerned
write well enough. With the re- about — this meeting, this in-
sponsibility transfer you take re- teraction, this day — off your
sponsibility for the outcome and shoulders and placing it on the
place it onto a higher being, thus shoulders of the entity you’ve
relieving yourself of the pressure chosen. They’re in charge now.
that can cause a block. Here’s how • Visually lift it off your shoul-
L E A R N M OR E 
it works. ders and feel the difference as
• Sit comfortably or lie down, re- you are now no longer respon-
sible for the outcome of any

It Is Okay to
Change Paths
by TESS GERRITSEN
Long before I became a doctor, I that writing was what I was really assumed that readers didn’t care if
was a writer. At the age of seven meant to do. Even though I’d made medical scenes were realistic, but
I wrote my first suspense novel, an occupational detour, those Harvest taught me that, yes, read-
about a blue zebra named Mickey eleven years of medical training ers are interested in what doctors
who was warned never to go into turned out to be the best education do and think. My literary agent
the jungle. Naturally, Mickey went a writer could hope for. told me: “Readers want to know
into the jungle. I bound the pages secrets.” They want to peek behind
together with needle and thread Those eleven the O.R. and autopsy room doors.
and proudly announced to my fa-
ther that I had found my future ca- years of They want to know what doctors
won’t tell them. All the years I’d
reer. I was going to write books! medical spent learning to be a doctor meant
training
I could write with the level of au-
My father said that was no way
thenticity readers are searching for.
to make a living. And that’s how
I ended up in medical school in- turned out to Since then, I’ve tried to provide
stead. be the best just those details. Have you ever
education a
wanted to know the physics be-
Although it delayed my childhood
hind why a plane or car crash kills
dream of becoming a novelist, I
never once regretted studying med- writer could you? I revealed that secret in Grav-
hope for.
ity. Ever wondered if you could
icine. I’m fascinated by science. I
buy your way to a higher spot on
enjoyed meeting people from all
the organ transplant list? In Har-
walks of life — doctors treat every-
I finally used my medical knowl- vest, I revealed how it’s possible.
one, from bankers to the homeless.
edge in my tenth novel, the medi- In Bone Garden I described how to
But my passion to write never left
cal thriller Harvest. To my surprise, amputate a limb without anesthe-
me, and when I went on maternity
Harvest hit the New York Times sia; in Ice Cold, I described death
leave and finally had a chance to
bestseller list. Up till then, I had by nerve gas; and in Playing With
complete my first novel, I realized

Fire, I explored the baffling behav- drive the same car, even favor the
ior of patients with partial complex same wine. In a world that’s far too
seizures. chaotic and unpredictable, we both
search for logical explanations.
Over the years, as I’ve described
autopsies, E.R.s, crime scenes, In fiction, at least, Maura can find
and even resuscitation in space, them.
I’ve exhibited the doctor’s point of
view. I know how panicked a doc-
tor feels as a life drains away be-
neath his hands, and the thrill of
TESS GERRITSEN is the author of
hearing a silent monitor suddenly
I Know a Secret.
start to beep with a renewed heart-
beat. I also understand the logical
manner in which doctors approach
problems, how they must sift the
subjective from the objective, and
try to tease out the facts from the
emotions.
In my Rizzoli and Isles crime se-

ries, medical examiner Dr. Maura
Isles gives us the doctor’s point of
view. When she and Jane investi-
gate a murder, no matter how dis-
turbing the crime scene may be,
Maura thinks like a doctor. Like
a surgeon faced with an exsan-
guinating  patient, Maura must
suppress her horror and get to
work. Others may think she’s cold-
blooded or robotic, but that’s how
Maura stays in control: by staying
focused and doing her job.
I no longer practice medicine, but

when I sit down to write a novel
I sometimes imagine I’m once
again donning a doctor’s gloves
and white coat, this time as Maura
Isles, my alter ego. Over the course
of eleven books, I’ve grafted much
of my own personality onto Maura.
She and I are fascinated by sci-
ence, we graduated from the same
universities, and shared the same
major. We both play the piano,

Research, But Not
Too Soon
by JULIA GLASS
When I teach, I like debunking the gins at home. But I like Grace Pal- tion. Yet I have found that the lon-
mythical dictates carved in the ey’s retort: “We don’t write about ger I can put off my research, the
styrofoam pillars supporting the what we know; we write about stronger and tighter my stories are.
shrine built to deify the Real Writer. what we don’t know about what This is personal, of course; maybe
(Picture the Lincoln Memorial, but we know.” Write what you want you, setting out to write the great
it’s Ernest Hemingway up on that to know, and start out pretending modern Western, need to pack
throne, fountain pen clenched you know a lot more than you do. up and live as a Wyoming cow-
in a fist as big as a Thanksgiving Surmise, invent, and bluff your hand before you can write a single
turkey.) There’s a reason, I point way through it as far as you can. word. Herman Melville went on an
out, that novelists do not have to Flex your imagination. Why else honest-to-God whaling voyage —
pass exams to practice their trade. are you here? no luxury cruise — before sitting
Architects and sea captains, sure. down to write Moby-Dick. I hasten
Surgeons, you bet. Why not novel- I won’t deny to add that I am not writing histori-
ists? Simple: Our form of malprac-
tice won’t kill anybody. The worst
that laziness cal fiction, so the broad context of
my work is the world we live in
we can do is bore you silly, fail to factors into now; nevertheless, I delve deeply
suspend your disbelief, make you
waste a little money. So we get to
my method. into my characters’ personal histo-
ries, which means I’m facing his-
do this thing we do by whatever tory with a capital H. I may need
One of the ancillary pleasures in
rules and rituals we devise. to find out about, for instance, the
writing fiction, however, is find-
rationing of farm equipment dur-
Prominent among those dictates ing out stuff; “real” stuff; stuff you
ing World War II. (Wars of the last
(close on the heels of Write ev- never knew before; stuff you need
century have influenced the lives
ery day) is Write what you know. to know if the story you’re telling
of my fictional people as dramati-
Which holds true, admittedly, to is to hold up as true. Curiosity is
cally as they have the lives of ac-
the extent that every journey be- the apprentice to your imagina-
tual people.)

I won’t deny that laziness factors wedding cakes, the culture of a covered on the variously eccentric
into my method. Years ago, I loved 1960s summer camp for teenage traditions surrounding wedding
nothing more than a good excuse musicians, the pathology and treat- confections was hard to leave be-
to roam the library stacks. Now, ment of AIDS in the 1980s, the hind, but because I was working to
even heading down screen to Sa- training of Border collies, the poli- authenticate an existing scene, the
fari seems like a chore when all I tics of water rights in the South- narrative had only so much give.)
want to do is hang around with my west, the conservation of grizzly The story must be the boss of the
characters, eavesdrop on their se- bears — but I began by writing research, not the other way around.
crets, and get them in trouble just from instinct and hearsay. The
to find out how they’ll endure (or
In every story, I challenge

not).
myself to create characters

In every story, I challenge myself
to create characters outside my
know-it-all zone, but never arbi- outside my know-it-all zone,
but never arbitrarily.
trarily. Though I may not under-
stand why, I will have felt a deep
curiosity to inhabit the psyche of
a wildlife biologist, a pastry chef,
a Guatemalan gardener, an elderly I like doing my research live, using
problem with doing research too
widower, a music critic, the devout people as sources whenever I can.
soon is this: If I uncover too much
Catholic mother of two gay sons, a And sometimes those people find
captivating knowledge in advance,
cancer patient, a cellist, a lonely me. Years ago, while struggling to
I cannot resist including it, nor can
film star, an insolent young man craft a character living with the
I tell when it dilutes or distracts
bent on what he sees as construc- after-effects of head trauma, after
from the story I’m trying to tell. If,
tive anarchy. reading medical journals had left
on the other hand, I must pack it
me more confused than informed,
To know their passions, preoc- into the brimming suitcase of an
I was called for jury duty — where
cupations, and afflictions, I have existing story, only the pertinent
I happened to meet a stranger who
researched the infrastructure of details will fit. (The vast lore I un-

had gone through an experience my book after reading to a small house present. The climate proved
parallel to that of my character. I audience, when a hand shot up, perfectly hospitable. The guests
conducted some enormously fruit- emphatically. “Excuse me,” said were invited back. Next time, they
ful “research” over lunch breaks my questioner, “but please see brought a pair of blue jays.”
from the courthouse. page 117. It isn’t possible, you real-
ize, for the women’s final at Wim-
Inevitably, you miss things. If
bledon to fall within the month of
you’re lucky, people who read
June. And, on page 47, can you tell
your work early on catch those JULIA GLASS is the author of
me what a dogwood tree is doing
gaffes before it’s too late: the clam A House Among the Trees.
in Scotland? Dogwoods grow only
sauce with onions, the cello seated
in North America.” He was hold-
behind the flute; an idiom or a gad-
ing a copy of my book sprouting a
get or a popular song deployed be-
thicket of Post-Its. He was my first
fore its time. Sometimes, however,
of a certain kind of reader. I want
alternative facts wind up in print.
to hug and slug these people at the
In Three Junes, I began by using
very same time. They are, after all,
memory and guesswork to de-
devoted to the truth.
scribe the surroundings of a Scot-
tish country home, an essential Okay, so he had me on Wimbledon
setting, knowing I’d fine-tune the — a necessary torqueing of real-
details later. Several drafts later, I ity that I had hoped no one would
LEARN MORE 
consulted a guide to British bird- notice. “But as for the dogwood,” I
ing, overwriting my placeholder said, keeping my cool, “there were
blue jays, robins, and cardinals these American houseguests who,
with yellowhammers, chiffchaffs wanting to make a memorable im-
, and collared doves. Botani- pression on their Scottish hosts,
cally, however, it turns out I wasn’t and knowing how much they cher-
so thorough. ished their garden, smuggled a dog-
wood sapling in their luggage as a
There I was, out on tour, closing

Write
Commandments:
Six Steps to Turn
Off Your
Internal Editor
by JILL SANTOPOLO
I’m an author. And an editor. But for elementary schoolers, I edited to turn off my internal editor and
never at the same time. and edited the first chapter until I write more efficiently. These are
felt like it was as close to perfect my writing commandments.
I’ve traveled a lot — all over North
as I could make it before I moved
America and to Europe as well — 1. THOU SHALT OUTLINE
on. And then I did the same with
to talk to writers about the craft of Before I start writing, I go through
the second chapter. And the third.
writing. I’ve given talks about plot, the entire story, chapter by chap-
The book — which is only about
about character, about voice, about ter, and decide what important
20,000 words — took me nearly a
emotion, and have had wonderful plot and emotional events will
year to draft, and then when I got
conversations about stories with happen in each one. That way, I al-
to the end, I realized that I’d con-
tons of booklovers. But inevitably, ways know where the story’s going
structed the plot all wrong, and all
at some point in the conversation, and will feel compelled to move
of that painstaking editing was,
someone asks me how my editorial forward instead of working on the
while perhaps not a waste of time,
brain coexists with my writer brain same chapter for months.
extraordinarily inefficient, because
— whether I’m always editing what
now I had to rewrite half of those
I write. And the answer, of course, 2. THOU SHALT NOT RE-READ
chapters and revise the rest so that
is yes, I do edit what I write, but EARLIER SECTIONS
they made sense with the new plot
I don’t edit it — I couldn’t possi- With my first book, I would start
structure. So over the next couple
bly edit it — in the same way I edit every writing session by reread-
of years, I devised a plan, a way
someone else’s work. And I never
edit it until I’ve finished a com-
plete first draft. When I got to the end, I
In the first book I wrote, The
realized that I’d constructed
Nina, The Pinta, and the Vanish- the plot all wrong.
ing Treasure, which is a mystery

ing everything I’d already written, TO ADD IN THE THING ABOUT
revising all of that, and only then THE PASTA POT]. And then when
start on new material. That meant I’m up to the revising stage, I add
that the longer the book got, the that part in.
more time I needed to set aside
6. THOU SHALT REMEMBER THAT
each day to write. I realized after-
THIS MANUSCRIPT IS NOT
ward that this made no sense, so
WRITTEN IN STONE
now I don’t read over what I’ve
written until I have a whole draft I think the true key to turning off
done. any internal editing is to remember
that every book goes through mul-
3. THOU SHALT HAVE GOALS tiple revisions in its lifetime. The
I break down my writing goals into words and phrases and sentences
manageable tasks that I must com- don’t have to be perfect right away
plete. When I’m drafting, my goals — I spent four years writing and
are all quantity based: 1,000 words revising The Light We Lost. Some
today, 1,500 words this weekend, lines are the same as they were in
etc. And then once I have a draft the first draft, but many are not.
done, I give myself chapter goals: In the end, understanding that I’d
Revise four chapters this weekend, eventually be letting go of so much
one chapter after dinner. When I that I’d written is what made it eas-
have that target in my mind, I push iest for me to turn off that internal
through to get things done. editor and enjoy the act of creation
inherent in writing.
4. THOU SHALT NOT SHARE YOUR
WORK UNTIL IT’S COMPLETE
I have an amazingly generous, per-

ceptive writing group, but I try not JILL SANTOPOLO is the author of
to share pages with them while I’m The Light We Lost.
mid-draft. I want their thoughts on
the whole book at once, otherwise
it’s quite likely I’d begin inputting
their edits into early pages and
work so hard on those that it would
take me forever to get through a
complete draft.
5. THOU SHALT ACCEPT THAT SOME

THINGS CAN BE FILLED IN LATER
Sometimes I’ll be going along and a

thought will strike me about a sec-
tion I’ve already written. Instead of L E A R N M OR E 
going back and revising that scene

right then, I scroll back to that
scene and make myself a note that
says something like [REMEMBER

The Secret to
Feeling at Home
as a Writer
by SWAN HUNTLEY
I move a lot. Every year or two, I Two days ago, I was in Paris. I woke Today, I’m in Asheville. I medi-
get rid of almost everything, pack up, meditated, had coffee, wrote in tated, had coffee, wrote in my jour-
the rest, and head to a new city. my journal, worked on some edits, nal, and now I’m writing this.
I’m constantly getting emails from and then ate quiche and went to a
In all these places, I stayed with
old friends asking me where I museum because that’s what you
friends or family, and in each
live now. Most of the time, my re- do in Paris.
place, I found little pieces of my-
sponse is that I live in X but I plan
to move to Y, because I’ve already The subtext self — the coffee I bought last time,
the book I left, my flip flops.
is that
decided I’m going to move again.
It’s not unusual for this response I went to an Ann Patchett reading
to be sent from another city, Z, be- rituals are in La Jolla a few years ago. When
potentially
cause on top of moving, I also like asked about her rituals, Ann Patch-
to travel. I’m rarely in one place for ett told us she had none. She could
long.
dangerous, work anywhere, at any time, as
Yesterday, I was at one of my usual and in the long as she had her computer. Give
Ann Patchett fifteen minutes in a
extreme,
haunts, the airport. A woman
waiting room and she could write
asked me what I do. I told her I’m
of course I
a paragraph or two.
a writer. She said what I expected
agree.
her to say. “You’re so lucky. You Often, when writers talk about this
can work anywhere.” I hear this kind of flexibility, the subtext is
phrase a lot. I’m usually jetlagged that rituals are potentially danger-
and trying to get somewhere; I’m ous, and in the extreme, of course
not paying hard attention. But Yesterday, I woke up in New York. I agree. When we cling too des-
when I really stop to consider it, I meditated, had coffee, wrote in perately to external elements that
“anywhere” is exactly where I live. my journal, got on a plane. can be taken away, the atmosphere

becomes too fragile, and the thing The person who’s constantly on little undone. When I am writing,
you’re trying to write too precious. the move can’t help but long to whichever city is out the window
feel grounded, and my simple rou- doesn’t matter that much. I can be
When I first started writing, I was
tine does that for me. It provides a anywhere, because the truth is that
clinging hard. My talon marks were
sense of home in the most obvious I’m not really there anyway. I’m in
all over the place. It was stressful.
and sensory way — the smell of another world — one that I’m mak-
I had to have the window cracked
that coffee I like, the same journal ing up as I go along.
just enough, but not too much. The
every day.
computer had to be at a certain an-
gle. My note-taking pen had to be Unlike before, though, my entire
one that inspired me to take notes. existence is no longer delicately
Then the wind would blow too hinged on having these things. SWAN HUNTLEY is the author of
hard and my perfect assemblage of The Goddesses.
Besides coffee, which is absolutely
“writer at work” would crack and
mandatory, my rituals don’t have
die, and it would take me a few
to be perfectly executed anymore,
minutes to get my ruffled feathers
because it’s not really about them
back in place.
anyway. They’re just a vehicle to
Now, having written some books, get me to the work.
I’m less scared. I’m no longer en-
Familiarity is nice and comforting,
vious of Ann Patchett pounding it
but more deeply, it’s the act of writ-
out in a waiting room because I fi-
ing that makes me feel at home —
nally understand what everyone’s
in myself and in the world. I know
been telling me all along: We all do LEARN MORE 
this because when I’m not writing,
this differently.
I feel directionless, antsy, and a

Faulkner, Welty,
and Goethe Said
It Best
by JAN KARON
The Internet is smitten with rules, grandmother read the Old Testa- As I wrote on, I found that he
especially in the form of numbered ment to my sister and me. These wasn’t ordinary at all, of course.
lists. ‘Ten Rules for Getting Him to stories had everything: Sin. Poetry. Like the rest of us, he was extraor-
Call You the Next Day.’ ‘Five Rules Plagues. Drought, floods, fleas, lo- dinary. Fourteen novels flowed out
for Making Profiteroles  To Die custs, boils, dancing with tambou- of his many-layered persona.
For.’ rines, and the Almighty speaking
On What You’ve Got to Be: “You’ve
directly to prophets. What more
As a writer, I’m smitten with great got to be a good date for the reader,”
could you possibly need?
quotes by writers, all of whom, of said William Styron.
course, play by their own rules. On Becoming Your Characters:
This may be my favorite writers’
If you’re serious (or even semi- Eudora Welty said, “…Enter into
rule of all time. Think about it.
serious) about writing, here are a the mind, heart, and skin of a hu-
This is definitely what you must
few personal favorites. man being who is not [yourself].
do if you want the reader to call
Whether this happens to be a man
On Reading: Faulkner said, “Read the following day.
or a woman, old or young, with
everything … and see how they do
skin black or white, the primary On Sticking to It: When writing
it. Just like a carpenter who works
challenge lies in making the jump my first novel, At Home in Mitford,
as an apprentice and studies the
itself.” the local newspaper editor asked if
master, read! You’ll absorb it.”
I would share the pages with his
There’s nothing more exhilarating,
Pat Conroy said his family had readers via a column a week. With-
for me, than the jump. When I first
only two books in their house: the out such a commitment, I may not
started writing about a short, over-
Bible and Gone with the Wind. He have written much of anything at
weight, diabetic, balding small
devoured both, no harm done. all. Two or three chapters, yes, but
town priest named Father Tim, I
140,000 words, no.
In our farmhouse in the foothills of was gobsmacked , as the Irish
North Carolina, my first experience say. Could I get into the skin of this I find the writing of a book to be
with great literature was when my very ordinary man? intensely rewarding and particu-

larly painful. I despair with Eudora of someone asking this question.
that “these words are too weak, too
The answer is so simple, it’s em-
many, and not enough.” I agree
barrassing: Write the first line.
with the sportswriter, Red Smith,
who said, “You simply sit down What shall I say?, the person might
at the typewriter, open your veins, respond.
and bleed.”
The answer: It doesn’t matter. If
In any case, it is a devouring pro- you must, write that it was the best
cess, as it should be. One goes at it of times, it was the worst of times.
with quiet terror, grave innocence, Or, that you had a farm in Africa.
and no little faith. In short, we Anything. And it will all resolve it-
tremble with “Abraham as he held self.
a knife over Isaac,” as Flannery
O’Connor said.
In the end, I am forced to follow

Nietzsche’s simple but challenging
JAN KARON is the author of
rule of “long obedience in the same
To Be Where You Are.
direction.”
Highly recommended.
On What to Do If You Are Too Ter-

rified to Begin: Follow Goethe’s
rule, which I inscribed with Magic
Marker on the wall above my desk
when I stepped out on faith and be-
gan writing books:
“Whatever you can do, or dream L E A R N M OR E 

you can, begin it; boldness has ge-
nius, power, and magic in it.”
According to your inclinations,

you may straighten pictures on the
wall, fluff up sofa cushions and
take long walks for your health —
anything to avoid sitting down and
writing.
But if you stick to it, you may

surely find, as did Margaret Mitch-
ell, that “in a weak moment, I have
written a book.”
Bonus Rule: People often ask, How

do you write a book? There is usu-
ally a very worried look on the face

Four Things
Every Writer Can
Learn from
Charlotte’s Web
by BRAD PARKS
I have a bet for you. evidence. Because here’s how surely considered in 1952). Yet
Charlotte’s Web begins: that’s all we need. White doesn’t
You take whatever book you want.
take the time to explain that Mrs.
It can be the reddest red meat “Where’s Papa going with that
Arable suffered four miscarriages
thriller ever devised, with one of ax?” said Fern to her mother as
before she had Fern, or that Fern
those titles that sounds like it’s out they were setting the table for
was feeling insecure over her in-
of breath (Fast Hard). It can have breakfast.
ability to master multiplication ta-
a guy on the cover desperately “Out to the hoghouse,” replied bles at school. The characters have
sprinting somewhere (seriously: Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were simply been set into action, with
Why does it seem like so many born last night.” just enough information that we
thriller protagonists are late for a
“I don’t see why he needs an ax,” can appreciate what’s happening.
bus?). It can have flap copy that
continued Fern, who was only
hints of a radical terrorist plot, a 2. YOU CARE ABOUT THE
eight.
species-threatening plague, or nu- CHARACTERS
clear Armageddon — or, better yet, “Well,” said her mother, “one of Let’s look at the two figures who
all three. the pigs is a runt. It’s very small are pretty clearly going to domi-
and weak, and it will never nate the drama. One is the ultimate
You take that book. amount to anything. So your fa-
underdog: the runt, very small and
ther has decided to do away with
I’ll take Charlotte’s Web. weak. The other is an eight-year-
it.”
old girl named after a plant. Both
I’ll bet my book — a children’s
See? You’re already hooked. And are sympathetic, obviously flawed.
book with a girl’s name in the title
here’s why: And you inherently want to root
and a lamb, a pig, a goose, and a
for them. It doesn’t matter if you
spider on the cover — has a better 1. IT DOESN’T DILLY DALLY
come to the book as an unapolo-
thriller takeoff than your book.
Four paragraphs. Seventy-nine getic carnivore who has no partic-
Don’t believe me? Let’s go to the words. Three tweets-worth of ular moral qualms about a farmer
characters (something E.B. White doing what a farmer needs to do. In
this book there is no Team Bacon. 4. THE ODDS ARE STACKED AGAINST BRAD PARKS is the author of
THE PROTAGONIST Say Nothing.
3. THE STAKES ARE CLEAR
The ink on the death sentence is al-
You know this is going to be a story
ready dry. It sucks for the pig, but
where a little girl attempts to save
for the reader, it’s exhilarating. Es-
a pig from the burdens of becoming
pecially during the first half to two-
scrapple. Especially in this modern
thirds of the book, you have to put
era — when attention spans have
as many obstacles in your protago-
become so short — readers want to
nist’s way as possible. Have read-
know this kind of information im-
ers thinking, Okay, how the heck
mediately. If it’s a mystery, what
is she going to work her way out
murder are we solving? If it’s a
of this mess? In the back of their
romance, who’s getting together?
head, they know the protagonist LEARN MORE 
Readers have a lot more patience
is going to win ... somehow. But
for character development, scene-
they have no idea how. That’s what
setting, and world building after
keeps them turning pages. And
they know what the book is basi-
that’s why — fifty million copies
cally about.
sold later — my book wins.

The Infinite Joys of
Wasting Time with
the Dictionary
by AMMON SHEA
Very few people think of the dic- to do is sit down with it (and the find such useless, thought-provok-
tionary as a something you can format, whether online or paper, is ing gems as objectee (“one that is
read. Some don’t even think of it immaterial (sense 2 of immaterial, objected to”), obfuscable (“capable
as a book at all, but rather as a tool not sense 1)), and allow yourself to of being obfuscated”), and oblivi-
(just made with paper, or the Inter- wander from word to word with- onize (“to relegate to oblivion”).
net, rather than metal). out any definite goal. Browsing earlier editions would
yield additional curiosities, such
When you’re not sure whether or Hidden in any given part of the
as obdormition (“the condition of
not you’ve used egregious appro- alphabet are words of such re-
a limb when asleep”), a word that,
priately, or spelled embarrass with markable specificity that, once en-
sadly, is now an obsoletism (“a
the amount of Rs it demands, the countered, you will want to carry
Hidden in any given part of

dictionary is the right tool for the
job. However, it is also a mirror of
the English language, and as such,
it offers a reflection on the human
the alphabet are words of
condition, with all its foibles and such remarkable specificity.
joy, despair and absurdity.
with you forever. Not necessarily
If you think of the dictionary only thing, especially a word or phrase,
to use, but just to hold and enjoy,
as an aid to the mechanics of lan- that is obsolete”).
so that when you do encounter the
guage, then you’re missing the real
thing that they describe you might Side by side with these highly
benefit that the dictionary offers
better notice it and be able to give specific words are words that may
to writers: it is a remarkable aid
it meaning. seem everyday, but upon closer
to the shirking of responsibility,
examination may cause you to re-
well suited to both wasting your Let’s look at one small portion of
consider how language works. For
time and teaching you things you our most recent dictionary. In just
example, very few native English
do not need to know. All you have the words beginning with ob-, we
speakers have looked up the word

nice, as most of us have a pretty sadness, and infinite possibility. It
good grasp on it, right? Well, in contains the wistfulness of desid-
case you need a reminder, here is erium (“a feeling of loss or grief for
a partial list of the ways in which something lost”) and the lexical
this word may be defined. exuberance of conjubilant (“shout-
ing together with joy”). It has the
“Lewd, wanton, dissolute, coy,
words for “the lowest degree of
modest, diffident, reticent; show-
desire” (velleity) and “bad temper
ing fastidious, particular, or finical
caused by drinking” (barley-hood)
tastes; satisfying a dainty palate,
both within its pages, together
pleasing delicate tastes; marked
with thousands more unknown
by refinement and culture, refined
unknowns.
tastes, or wise discrimination;
showing, marked by, or requiring The dictionary isn’t just here to
meticulous choice, tactful han- wag its finger, telling you “X is ac-
dling, careful consideration, or ceptable, Y is not, and Z is used
precise and scrupulous conduct; only by those of little discernment
requiring, marked by, or capable or couth.” It is a record of our lan-
of delicate discrimination, preci- guage, and as such, is as unpredict-
sion, closely accurate measure- able and playful as language itself.
ment, subtle analysis, or minute
You should roll about in your lan-
treatment; lacking vigor, strength,
guage like a child rolling in a pile
or endurance; lacking significance,
of leaves (before said child real-
trivial; pleasant and satisfying;
izes that piles of leaves are full of
enjoyable, attractive, pleasant, de-
ticks), gathering great heaps of it
lightful; very good, well-executed,
and throwing it in the air, just to
well-conducted; well-intentioned,
see which way it falls. Grab a dic-
benign; mild, clement, pleasing;
tionary, get ready to waste some
well or appropriately dressed (neat,
time, and begin your journey.
personable, comely); fitting, appro-
priate, suitable; used with and as
an intensive; most inappropriate
AMMON SHEA is a
Digital
(unpleasant, unattractive, mean,
Content Editor for Merriam-
treacherous); marked by confor-
Webster.com and the author of
mity to convention, given to ac-
Bad English.
customed practices; not marked by
sexual license (virtuous, chaste);
not profane, indecent, or obscene.”
In the seven hundred or so years

that nice has been in use, it has
gone from one thing to its antonym
and back again, filled in with doz-
ens of additional shades along the
way.
The dictionary is a thing of joy and

How to Strike the
Right Balance of
Fact and Fiction in
Historical Fiction
by FIONA DAVIS
I love it when readers say to me, as well). I read everything I can right? So in my plot, I sent one of
“After I finished your novel, I went from that era, including newspa- my characters downtown, where
straight to Google to figure out pers, magazines, fiction, and non- she got mixed up with some seedy
what was true and what was made fiction. I also interview experts, characters.
up!” That’s exactly why historical like architectural historians who
I used the same approach while
fiction is my favorite genre: In a specialize in the Gilded Age, or
working on The Address. I discov-
good story, I become immersed in women who lived in the Barbizon
ered that in the 1930s, a “lady man-
a different time period with people Hotel for Women in the ’50s and
agerette” ran the Dakota. That gave
I’d never meet otherwise, who are ’60s.
me the idea for one of my charac-
living through situations that are
That’s when the ideas start to pop. ters: a housekeeper named Sara
unimaginable today. After I’ve
While researching The Dollhouse, Smythe who gets an unexpected
turned the last page, I’m eager to
I learned that when the Barbizon promotion early in the novel.
discover the nuggets of truth bur-
Hotel for Women was turned into
ied within the work of fiction. In general, the characters in my
luxury condos, a dozen or so long-
stories are all fictional. That gives
My fictional characters are built time residents were moved into
me room to play around with them,
around the framework of histori- rent-controlled apartments on the
get them into and out of trouble,
cal fact. Once I have an idea for a same floor. Great set-up for a book,
and not feel constrained by a true
setting for my book — The Doll- I thought.
historical figure. Exceptions do oc-
house is set in the Barbizon Hotel
I read a harrowing newspaper ar- cur, though. Nelly Bly, a fabulous
for Women and The Address takes
ticle from the 1950s about the ris- reporter from the 1880s, makes a
place in the Dakota apartment
ing heroin epidemic, which was quick appearance in The Address.
house — I do a deep dive into the
often blamed on bebop jazz musi- As a former journalist, I couldn’t
research of the time period (1950s
cians. What a great contrast to the resist. And both buildings were
for The Dollhouse and 1880s for
rarified world of the hotel, with its touched by famous, tragic figures.
The Address, although they both
guests in pearls and white gloves, Sylvia Plath stayed at the Barbizon
feature contemporary plotlines

Hotel in 1953 and wrote about it
in The Bell Jar, and John Lennon
was murdered outside the Dakota
in 1980.
In both those cases, I felt it was im-

portant to mention the association,
but not linger there. For example, I
set the modern-day timeline of The
Address in 1985, when Strawberry
Fields first opened, as a way to re-
spectfully touch upon the tragedy
without making it a major part of
the story.
A couple of times I’ve had to

slightly fudge dates of real events
in order to make the story work.
When that happens, I mention it in
the author’s note at the end, where
I also list many of the resources I
relied upon. My hope is that read-
ers will continue on in their jour-
ney to learn more about the past,
and enjoy it as much as I did.
FIONA DAVIS is the author of

The Address.
LE ARN MO R E 

Five Rules for
Keeping Fantasy
Fiction Realistic
by CHRISTINE FEEHAN
Consider vampires. You likely al- I have a few rules that I live by made-up words you just gave up
ready have ideas or beliefs about when I’m writing. Your rules may reading it? It can happen.
the rules of writing vampires. They be different and that’s fine. Here’s
Your characters need to have
must drink blood to survive. They what works for me.
strength, weaknesses, conflicts,
must stay out of the sunlight. They
GROUND YOURSELF IN THE and abilities, and the more people
are immortal. We all have these
FAMILIAR understand what those are, the
parameters that we feel make up
Whether writing vampires, shape- more they can see themselves in
what vampires can or cannot do.
shifters, witches, or military ex- your characters’ shoes.
But when you write fiction, you
can make up any rules you like, periments gone wrong, make your KNOW WHEN YOU’VE GONE
right? world recognizable. Even if you TOO FAR
write epic fantasy, people need to
YES AND NO Some authors have an internal feel
be able to relate and understand
for when they’ve taken their story
You can certainly adjust the rules, where you are taking them and
in a direction that’s more fantas-
ignore them, or make up new ones what they are imagining. Have you
tical than it should be, and some
to fit your book. Some vampires ever read a book that had so many
authors have friends who will cri-
burn in the sunlight, some sparkle.
And if you can make it work, that’s
fantastic! But even when you write Whether writing vampires,
fiction it’s good to ground yourself
in enough reality that people feel shapeshifters, witches, or
they have a place in your world. military experiments gone
wrong, make your world
They should be able to land in
your universe and feel the things
you hope you’re making them feel
when you write.
recognizable.
tique or review their stories and thoughtful in how you add it in. Do But you want to be sure your read-
give them feedback on that kind you need one big catalyst to push ers understand what’s going on
of detail. Either way, it’s impor- you into more paranormal territory and that the sex fits the story. Sex
tant that you don’t let the fantasy or is it better to make small steps should never take a reader out of
elements take the reader out of the and lead your readers into accept- the story, so whatever rules you
story. It’s important that you don’t ing where you want to go with your have for your world, you need to
allow the fantastical to be more series or book? extend that into the sex.
important than the characters and
It’s important to write the book you Your world, your book, your se-
plot.
want to write, but it’s also impor- ries, your rules. This is your story
BALANCE YOURSELF tant to consider your readers, who and you want to enjoy writing it.
Readers of paranormal fiction love have invested time, money, and Rules give readers parameters so
those special elements in your heart into your stories. Readers feel they understand and trust that
story. I write romance, but that ro- invested. Trust your relationship they can feel they are part of the
mantic story has paranormal ele- with your readers. Stay in touch story unfolding. Rules help define
ments within. Some series demand with them on social media, your your brand in a way. Readers know
more of the fantastical than others. website, and perhaps via a news- what to expect and that’s why they
Know how to balance fiction and letter. Mostly, trust yourself. If you keep coming back for more.
reality proportionate to what the can’t enjoy the writing, it’s tough to
story needs and what readers will complete a book.
want, or what they expect from PARANORMAL AND SEX
you.
Whether you’re writing paranor- CHRISTINE FEEHAN is the author of
For example, my Carpathian sto- mal romance, supernatural sus- Power Game.
ries are about an ancient race of pense, fantasy, or any other genre
vampire hunters, vampires, mages that contains a fantastical element,
, shapeshifters, and dragons. I it’s likely sex will factor in along
can include more fantasy elements the way. For romance this is nearly
in this series than, say, my Ghost- a certainty. I’m not one to judge
walker series, which mixes real when it comes to the kind of sex
science with paranormal elements people want to put in their book.
and military experiments gone That said, however, there are some
wrong. I need people to feel as books I don’t read because I’m not
though my psychically enhanced into the kind of sex they incorpo- L E A R N M OR E 
heroes and heroines could actually rate. And you know what? That’s
be real. So ask yourself how much fine.
of the fantastical your story calls
Sometimes I’ll pick up a book be-
for.
cause it looks like it’s sexy and
KNOW YOUR READERS appeals to me. For the most part,
There’s a time and a place for add- there’s no right or wrong as long
ing more fantastical/paranormal as it’s consensual and the charac-
elements to your series or story. If ters are age-appropriate. But like
you feel your readers love the para- anything else, I try to keep the sex
normal element and would love to grounded in reality. Can charac-
see more of it, trust your gut. But be ters float in the clouds as they have
sex? Sure. Can they be ghosts? Yes.
Writing a New
Series: A Guide to
Creating a World
from Scratch
by MEG GARDINER
Every novel I write needs two and forensic psychiatrist Jo Beck- A heroine must shine. She must
things: a compelling main char- ett) helped prepare me to cook up be multifaceted and intriguing.
acter, and a story that hooks the the world of Caitlin Hendrix. But characters must be more than
reader. The first novel in a series a collection of quirks. (She plays
Here are five things a new series
needs more than that. It calls for ei- the banjo! Eats popsicles at crime
needs:
ther a story that continues beyond scenes! Trains racing badgers!)
“The End,” or a protagonist whose 1. A HERO OR HEROINE WHO CAN And while every hero needs a past,
job calls for more stories. Ideally HANDLE THE JOB they shouldn’t come laden with so
both. much baggage that they’d sink a
An everyman, caught up in events
cruise ship. Amnesia, triple iden-
My thriller Unsub is about a leg- beyond their control, can be a ter-
tities, psychic abilities, a secret
endary killer and the young cop rific hero in a stand alone novel.
addiction to SPAM … add that up
who hunts him. But a series protagonist needs
and it’s too much.
characteristics that will carry them
The unsub — an unknown subject through multiple novels: Mannerisms and eccentricities
in a criminal investigation — starts
don’t make a character. A burning
killing again after twenty years, Skills to do the job that will drive
desire for justice does.
and Caitlin Hendrix must decipher the series, book after book (cop,
his coded plan before he drags spy, thief …); How the character defines justice
more innocents to the abyss. — and seeks it — create distinc-
Secrets that readers will thirst to
tive, exciting stories.
I knew this novel would launch uncover;
a series. That shaped how I wrote 2. A CAST OF CHARACTERS WHO
Fears that hold them back, and
it. As in all my novels, I was cre- CREATE A MATRIX OF “REAL” LIFE
they work to overcome;
ating a world from scratch — but Every character in a novel should
this world requires room to grow. An Achilles ’ heel  because in- illuminate the protagonist in a
Fortunately, writing two other se- vincibility is boring. unique way. Relationships with
ries (about journalist Evan Delaney
recurring characters — friends, she’ll fight, refusing to surrender.
family, colleagues — bring to light
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
different aspects of a protagonist’s
personality. They also create a People have histories. And futures.
nexus that connects the hero to Parcel them out judiciously.
“regular” life outside the central
Be stingy. Give your characters
conflict in the story.
a history — but in the first book,
Difficult or disruptive characters only hint at parts of it. Don’t pour
in the hero’s life can fuel subplots. out every secret. That way, you can
And they can generate plots for fu- draw it out in future books.
ture novels.
And create unresolved conflicts.
3. A WORLD WITH ROOTS THAT CAN Set up battles yet to come.
DEEPEN AND FLOURISH
Every novel must work on its own
The setting of a series becomes a — it should have a beginning, mid-
living part of its ecosystem. Where dle, and a satisfying end. But in a
does the hero live and work? Loui- series, every book must also plant
siana, Westeros, Future New York seeds that don’t pay off yet. A se-
City? Do they have a neighborhood ries novel is like a song that ends
hangout where they can unwind? before the final chord. The mel-
Even in fast-paced thrillers, people ody leads toward the final note …
should have a chance to catch their but leaves us hanging. The music
breath. They need somewhere to doesn’t resolve. In a series novel,
enjoy a few minutes of down time. as in a song, when a chord doesn’t
resolve, we listen in anticipation,
In thrillers, you’re going to send
hoping, needing that resolution.
your characters through hell. Give
them a place to get a good cup of That’s suspense. And that keeps
coffee. readers coming back for more.
4. FORCES OF ANTAGONISM
A story, it’s often said, is only as

strong as its antagonist. Every
MEG GARDINER is the author of
novel must provide the heroine
Unsub.
with an adversary. But a series
heroine needs a nemesis — an in-
escapable foe. A Big Bad, a lifelong
rival, or personal demons. And a
series needs more than the bad guy
of the day. It needs an overarch-
ing institutional, psychological,
or moral antagonist. The System.
Corruption. Hypocrisy. These are
forces that mass against the hero-
ine and can never be completely LEARN MORE 
vanquished, but against which

Using Narrative
Voice in
Speculative
Fiction
by SCOTT REINTGEN
Dragons. Spaceships. Dragons on to tell the story. This choice will 1. CREATE WONDER
spaceships? dictate how the reader experiences Hogwarts is great, but one reason
your world. Let’s examine a few we were swept off our feet was be-
One of the reasons we love spec-
methods for using narrative voice cause Harry was swept off of his.
ulative fiction is that it takes us
to create familiar feelings and ex- Rowling’s decision to center the
beyond the reach of our own ex-
periences. Our adrenaline kicks in story on someone completely un-
when we see the ice dragon for the
Hogwarts is familiar with her world created
a narrative voice that’s delight-
great, but
first time, or when a mysterious
new planet appears through the fully explorative. Notice, too, how
one reason
portside window. she adjusts this as the series pro-
gresses. The narration grows up
The challenge with writing a brand
we were with Harry in each book.
swept off our

new encounter is that the reader of-
2. CREATE ENEMIES
ten finds themselves in completely
unknown territory. If you’ve ever
tried to navigate through a new
feet was Katniss doesn’t paint a flatter-
ing picture of Panem. There are
city without the right directions, because no pulled punches in her narra-
you know just how disorienting
that experience can be. It’s crucial
Harry was tion. She’s snarky and bitter and
more than willing to call a spade
that we give our readers familiar swept off a spade. Collins uses this to keep
touchstones to keep the experience
from being too dizzying.
of his. our relationship with the Capitol
straightforward. We know we’re
supposed to dislike them, because
A successful narrative voice can periences that allow the rest of Katniss paints them as a clear en-
do just that. Let’s define that term your story to be more spectacular: emy.
first: narrative voice is the cho-
sen character lens the author uses
3. CREATE DEEPER CONFLICTS is Red Rising. Darrow’s narrative down firmly in the story.
voice is dynamic. He is born to
One really great tool is looking at Once you’re certain we’re locked
poverty and hardship, seeking re-
the world you’ve built and creating in and comfortable, go ahead and
venge, and still a confident, com-
characters who are clearly at odds hit the ignition button. Take us to
petent character. But one of the
with it. Eddard Stark is a great that alien planet. Reveal that new
main drivers in this story is that
example. He is a man of honor — and deadly magic. We’ll be ready
Darrow has a secret — several se-
someone who always chooses the to launch into the unknown be-
crets — that he’s constantly hiding.
high road. As those novels prog- cause you’ve given us something
We’re invited into the suspense be-
ress, however, it’s clear that Weste- to hold tight to as we go.
cause we’re seeing the threatening
ros is too cruel and lawless for a
world through his eyes.
man like him.
I hope you’ll notice that each of
4. CREATE CLARITY
these five tools makes a reader more
Orson Scott Card’s prose in Ender’s comfortable, because they’re all fa- SCOTT REINTGEN is the author of
Game comes to mind. Ender is a miliar to our lived experiences. We Nyxia.
deeply analytical character, and love being in on a secret (dramatic
Card chooses a straightforward, ob- irony) as much as we love truly
servant prose to match that. Since grasping a concept (clarity). We’ve
the sentence-level writing contains experienced distrust and wonder
so few bells and whistles, Card is and conflict — so often, in fact, that
able to funnel the flashier stuff into they’re like old friends we can rec-
his world building. It’s a great bal- ognize even at a distance. The key
ance. is to offer the reader these familiar
touchstones — using the narrative
5. CREATE DRAMATIC IRONY
voice — to allow us to set our feet LEARN MORE 
One of my favorite recent books

Four Tips to
Transport Your
Reader
by BIANCA MARAIS
If books are portals through which scribes all the amazing stuff they’re forced to return to their apartment
readers can step to visit worlds going to see and experience. You or their armchair in the local cof-
they’ve never been, then authors need to be a tour guide who jour- fee shop.
are tour guides of the imagination. neys with them, taking them into
2. LET YOUR READER DISCOVER
As a writer, it’s your job to trans- the heart of your story, and you
SOMETHING FOR THEMSELVES
port your readers from this world can make their trip unforgettable
to the one you’ve created and then by being mindful of the following: Travelers don’t want to just see the
to bring them back safely, though sights. They want to be given the
1. MAKE YOUR READER FEEL LIKE A
hopefully a little bruised and opportunity to walk off the beaten
LOCAL
scuffed, and subtly transformed track and discover things for them-
by their journey. Travelers return It isn’t enough to show a traveler selves. Spoon-feeding readers or
from the best kinds of adventures a place they’ve never been before; holding their hands every step of
with fond memories, scars that you need to make them feel like the way is suffocating; let them in-
tell their own stories, respect for a local in it. Take them to the se- terpret the experience in their own
the people they’ve encountered, cret hangouts only the locals know way and reach their own conclu-
a keenness to return, and a sense about, teach them the slang and sions. The more they think about
of having their horizons expanded dialect that makes a place unique. your world and try to assign mean-
in ways that will forever change A true traveler doesn’t want to feel ing, the more you’ve engaged them.
them. You want the same for your like an outsider or a tourist who
3. GIVE YOUR READER A VARIETY OF
literary explorers. stands on the periphery watching;
EXPERIENCES
they want to be a part of the cul-
So how do you achieve that? ture and the lifestyle. So immerse The best journeys are ones that are
them in it. Describe your world so varied. Travelers may enjoy thrill
If you want to immerse your reader
that it becomes a sensory experi- seeking one moment, but require
in the world of your novel, you
ence that they can smell and taste fun and relaxation in order to re-
need to be more than a travel agent
and touch. Leave them bewildered cover afterward. Get their pulse
who just plans their trip and de-
when the phone rings and they’re racing and synapses firing, but

also give them opportunities to
laugh or kick back. The more var-
ied the emotions you evoke in your
reader, the more they’ll enjoy the
experience. Give them characters
they can love and hate; give them
people they can root for or whose
downfall they can desperately de-
sire. Surprise them, make them
laugh, and then make them cry.
4. TEACH YOUR READER

SOMETHING OR EXPAND THEIR
WORLD VIEW
Travelers leave the comfort of their

homes so that they can become stu-
dents of the world. If they didn’t
want to be challenged and learn
about different cultures and ways
of life, they would never leave the
safety of their neighborhoods. Ex-
pand your readers’ world view so
that they come away from your
world having grown. Leave them
saying, “I never knew that before,”
because now they do, and they will
share that knowledge with others.
A reader who talks about a book is
a reader who has been transported
and will never return to the lim-
ited world they knew before.
BIANCA MARAIS is the author of

Hum If You Don’t Know the Words.
LE ARN MO R E 

Two People and a
Thing: On
Writing Climactic
Moments
by ALICE MATTISON
You’re ready to write the big emo- scene happen at all. My stories of- let me tell you about a mistake I
tional scene at the end of your ten ended with a woman alone in made when I was your age.”
book. You’re writing memoir or a room arguing with herself, then
Two people at the climactic mo-
fiction, and it’s about, maybe, fam- realizing or deciding something,
ily life, love (or love gone bad), and it took me years to understand
work. You’ve arrived at the pages that to make a reader feel the inten-
in which the lovers will decide to sity of my character’s experience, Two people
stay together or break up, the narra-
tor will tell her mother at last that
I needed more of the visible, tan-
gible world. I needed another per-
at the
she’s lost her faith, the worker will son — a lover, a parent, a boss, a climactic
confront the unjust boss — what-
ever matters most. A big scene,
friend — who would argue, scorn,
or forbid. The resolution would moment
that is, but one that’s primarily emerge out of conflict, a conflict instead of
one was
talk: an argument, the revelation using words, not guns, but a con-
of a secret, a confession. In many flict nonetheless.
books the big scene near the end
So I put two people into the big important,
but not quite
involves violence, destruction,
scene, not just one. But then what?
capture, escape: dramatic action.
enough.
Two unhappy people looked at
But in others, talk does the job, and
each other. They recited argu-
maybe yours is one of those. You
ments, or blurted out painful
write the scene, and the characters
truths. Maybe they cried. But the
look at each other and speak — but
scenes felt artificial, as if they came ment instead of one was impor-
the more you reread it the sillier it
from the kind of instructive film tant, but not quite enough. What
gets. Now what?
in which a teenager says, “What’s worked, I discovered, was two
When I was learning to write, I wrong with drinking and driving, people and a thing: a gesture, an
didn’t know how to make that Dad?” and the father says, “Billy, object, or an action — not an ac-

tion that would be the main event, utensils, tools, articles of clothing. ing to break out. Hasn’t a minor
but an action that could precipitate Choose things that aren’t already mishap in your own life ever led to
the main event: the intense, defini- dripping with meaning — not a someone blurting out an important
tive talk. photograph of the place where the secret, or expressing feelings that
lovers met, not grandmother’s wed- hadn’t been acknowledged before?
Watching strangers in a public
ding ring, not the trophy the team
place, you can tell how they feel So when it’s time to write the big
won before they cheated. Some-
by their gestures — what their scene, bring two people together,
thing that starts out neutral.
hands do as they speak, how they and then look around to see what
turn their bodies or step back. The Or, instead of making two people else is there, or what might happen
way they hold themselves shows do nothing but talk, let the confron- peripherally. Finally, wait. This is
whether they know each other well a hard moment; the people in your
or have just met, whether they’re book need to gather their courage,
getting along. Let your characters’ Bodies reveal and so do you. Then let the fright-
bodies show the reader how the
characters feel. Let them gesture, more than ening, life-changing, inevitable
confrontation happen.
handle objects, and move in a way words do.
that’s revelatory, and I don’t mean
making them shudder or feel their
hearts pound. You don’t need to tation come slantwise, while they
prove that an upsetting remark is do something else, something that ALICE MATTISON is the author of
upsetting. If one character says, “I lets intense feelings emerge. Rela- The Kite and the String.
don’t love you,” the reader knows tives cooking a dinner may find
how the other character feels — themselves facing their religious
you don’t need to make that char- or political differences; a boss and
acter get a stomachache. But what employee, in the stress of a crisis
does the rejected person do? What — a deadline, a mistake, someone’s
does he reach for or handle? Does racism or dishonesty — may voice
he sink back in a chair or jump up? hard feelings that haven’t come out
before. Lovers who are out in pub-
Bodies reveal more than words do.
lic may have to deal with a rejected
A character says she wants some-
credit card, an angry stranger, a
thing — but what she does next
crime. Maybe one of them makes LEARN MORE 
may suggest that she has mixed
a mistake while driving and gets a
feelings. Let tangible objects into
ticket. Any of these events may re-
your big scene — furniture, kitchen
lease feelings that have been wait-

The Three
Mistakes Thriller
Writers Most
Often Make
by HESTER YOUNG
Writing a thriller requires the skills people it happens to. That doesn’t or empathize with. Supporting
of an architect. You need creativ- mean your characters must be like- characters matter, too. Pepper your
ity, vision, and a mind for detail. able. Some of the most enduring novel with individuals who are
You need to understand how all characters are probably not people colorful, honest, funny, recogniz-
the parts work in combination to you’d want to spend a weekend able, or just plain excruciating.
form a whole. It’s a lot to balance, with — think Hannibal Lecter,
There will always be some savvy
and it’s easy to take a wrong turn. Lisbeth Salander, Tyler Durden,
readers who can spot the plot
Amy Dunne. Nevertheless, they
Here are three common mistakes you’re laying down, but if you
are complex and mesmerizing cre-
writers make when constructing a build a story made of people and
ations.
thriller. not just events, that won’t matter.
True thrills come from a reader’s In the best thrillers, we read for the
FOCUSING ON PLOT RATHER THAN
relationship with the characters, who, not just the what.
CHARACTER
so craft your thriller accordingly.
The defining elements of a thriller WEAK CHAPTER BREAKS
Your protagonist must have flaws.
are, without a doubt, plot-related. Your villains should have qualities The most common thing I hear
Anticipation, suspense, and sur- your readers can’t help but admire from my readers is, “Oh my gosh,
prise all come from twists and I read The Gates of Evangeline
turns in plot. For this reason, many
would-be authors spend all their
time worrying about action. Most of us like to make it to
That is a mistake. the end of a chapter before
Even the tensest of plots needs setting our book aside. We
a strong cast of characters. Your
want a clean break, a
feeling of completion.
readers won’t care what happens
next if they are not invested in the

in two days!” Given that my first pense. My personal sweet spot is Some of the most memorable thrill-
novel is four hundred pages long, about eight to twelve pages. Find ers use closed settings — a place
that’s quite a compliment. So how your own rhythm. cut off from society — to great ef-
do you write a book that people fect. Consider Andy Weir’s The
POORLY DEFINING THEIR SETTING
won’t want to put down? Martian, Stephen King’s The Shin-
Setting, in my opinion, is the sin- ing, and Agatha Christie’s And
It’s all in the chapter breaks. gle most underrated element of fic- Then There Were None. The iso-
Most of us like to make it to the end tion. We tend to view descriptive lated setting immediately ratchets
of a chapter before setting our book passages as something reserved up suspense.
aside. We want a clean break, a for literary writers, but a few well-
crafted sentences can establish an If you’re struggling to get started,
feeling of completion. As a writer,
environment that exponentially finding the right setting just might
you must exploit this! End each
enhances the tension. be the inspiration you need.
chapter with a burning question
the reader wants answered. The where and when of your Avoid these three pitfalls, and your
book also suggests certain cultural thriller is off to a solid start. Good
Early on, your book should pose
norms that your protagonist may or luck, and happy writing!
a single, high-stakes question that
will form the backbone of your may not be in step with. Remember
novel. Each chapter that follows the Mississippi town in A Time to
should: Kill or the dystopian world of The
Hunger Games? Setting can be an
a) take a step toward answering HESTER YOUNG is the author of
integral part of conflict.
that question, The Shimmering Road.
b) pose new questions, and/or My second book, The Shimmer-
c) complicate what readers already ing Road, is set in the oppressive
know (or think they know) about August heat of Tucson, Arizona.
its answer. The book touches upon several
hot-button issues particular to life
To that end, be mindful of the
on the Mexican border. Ultimately,
length of your chapters. If your
the setting becomes a major pres-
chapters are too long, readers are
ence in the novel, offering its own
more likely to give up in the mid-
set of dangers and challenges to the
dle. If they’re very short, you will
protagonist. LEARN MORE 
have a hard time sustaining sus-

You Weren’t
There? So What:
Four Tips on
Writing Historical
Fiction
by GEORGIA HUNTER
In 2008, I set off on a mission to along the way about blending fact time. Were the streets paved or
unearth the story of how my grand- with fiction. cobblestoned? Did the men wear
father and his siblings, a family of bowler hats or fedoras? What were
FIRST, SET THE STAGE
Polish Jews, managed to survive the social norms?
the Holocaust. After years of col- Historical fiction, by definition, is
a narrative that takes place in the For me, creating a believable back-
lecting oral histories and digging
up archival records, I pieced to-
gether a cohesive, bare bones nar-
rative, which took shape at first in Creating a believable
the form of a massive timeline.
backdrop meant doubling
Next came the daunting task of
turning that timeline into some-
down on my research so I
thing readable. I thought hard could describe in detail
about penning my book as nonfic-
tion — I’d done all of the research;
each setting.
the facts were there — but in the
end I decided I wanted the story to
feel immersive, visceral. I wanted
it to read like a novel, not a history past but that allows for an “imagi- drop meant doubling down on
book. native reconstruction” of people my research so I could describe
and events. You can’t start to re- in detail each setting, whether a
Whether you’re creating your own
construct someone (or an event), jazz club in pre-war Paris, a prison
work of historical fiction or simply
however, without first setting the cell in Krakow, or the barracks of a
curious about what it takes to do
scene: the geographical, cultural, Siberian gulag . I used as many
so, here are a few things I learned
political, and social climate of the sensory-rich details as possible in

my descriptions in order to help myself adhering almost too strictly
readers conjure an image of what to the literal truth: “If I didn’t read
life was like at the time. it or hear it, I can’t include it.” This
sometimes led to prose that lacked
FORGET YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVE
the dimension and color of human
As you write, remember that your experience. In order to add that
characters weren’t privy to the depth and richness to my story, I
historical perspective we have to- found that a better practice was to
day. There was no looking back for ask myself over and over again as
them — our history is their now. In I wrote: Could this have actually
order to convey what it meant to happened? Would he have said it
be a Jew on the run during WWII, this way? Could this thought have
I had to force myself to forget what been running through her mind? If
I know about the outcome of the I felt sure that the answer was yes, I
Holocaust, and to try to experience was comfortable including it.
the events that were unfolding as
my relatives might have. I asked
myself constantly: What did they
know? What didn’t they know?
GEORGIA HUNTER is the author of
WRITE IN COLOR VS. IN BLACK AND
We Were the Lucky Ones.
WHITE
When we look back at a particular

time and place in history, often
what we see is black and white:
the written word, old records,
and sepia-toned photographs. The
characters whose lives unfold in
a historical novel, however, expe-
rienced their world in color. So
whether describing what it felt
LEARN MORE 
like for my grandfather to fall in
love or for a great-aunt to attempt
a harrowing escape from the Pol-
ish ghetto, it helped for me to step
back in time and into the shoes
of each of my relatives — imagin-
ing, to the best of my ability, what
the world would have looked like
through their eyes.
CHOOSE A LENS AND STICK

WITH IT
It was very important to me to tell

my story in as truthful a way as pos-
sible. But in early drafts, I found

Ten
Non-Negotiable
Rules for
Hollywood
Reporting
by STEPHEN GALLOWAY
In January 2016, a producer friend wood biosphere; nor was debt a What followed was a long pro-
of mine slipped an odd tidbit into stranger to its workers — even the cess of investigation that led to
our dinner conversation. “Did you top ones could earn big and spend an award-winning story — about
know there’s this writer who made big in almost equal measure. Few which, I must confess, I still have
$100 million, and now he’s lost ev- Hollywood heavyweights, I’ve ob- mixed feelings. The story was not
erything to gambling?” he asked.
It took me a moment to register

what he was saying, the number
The surface camaraderie of
was so vast; it took me even lon- Hollywood masks a
ger to realize who he was talking
about — not a financier, an inves-
deep-seated schadenfreude
tor, a mogul, but a pugnacious that pervades even its
and erudite former professor who
had “ankled” the ivory tower and
closest relationships.
become one of the most brilliant
television auteurs  alive. The
served, live within their means; vastly different from many of the
writer had never made a secret of
even fewer hold onto the wealth investigative pieces other reporters
the darker aspects of his past, in-
they gain at their peak. But making write, except for this: The world of
volving various addictions that in-
and losing millions! The numbers entertainment operates in a bubble
cluded cocaine; still, this seemed
were unfathomable, especially to where everyone knows everyone
too awful to believe.
this modest-living journalist, sit- else, where alienating one of the
I swirled my wine in its glass, ting there licking my last drop of kingdom’s subjects runs the risk of
stared at the dregs and weighed wine, hoping my friend would alienating all.
what I was being told. Addiction pick up the bill.
This meant I had to go about my
was nothing new to the Holly-

work surreptitiously, before oth- a gossip columnist, but not for a le- where he lived and the property
ers found out and it blew up in my gitimate reporter. Once I’d decided he owned; soon I learned that he’d
face, while still following the rules my source was good, I needed to sold his house and put a second
I’ve always adhered to. find others — and not just one, home on the market, enough to
but many. That meant reaching hint there was fire where there was
RULE NO. 1: KNOW YOUR SOURCE’S
out to the people I knew, acquain- smoke.
MOTIVES
tances cultivated over many years
The surface camaraderie of Hol- RULE NO. 4: REACH HIGH AND LOW
of breakfasts and lunches and Hol-
lywood masks a deep-seated Assistants can be as valuable as
their bosses, though in Hollywood,
oddly, it’s the higher-level people
Think of Hollywood as a who are usually more comfort-
glorified high school, and able talking; the lower-level ones

are too scared. Now a low-level
know that if you write contact led me to a higher-level
something unpopular, you’ll one, who let slip the most critical
piece of information so far: that the
be unpopular too. writer’s wife had sued his business
managers for allowing her husband
lywood cocktail parties, always to spiral into debt.
schadenfreude  that pervades bearing in mind two things: that
RULE NO. 5: USE LEGAL DATABASES
even its closest relationships. anyone who helped me would
And that makes understanding a want something in return; and, As an editor with The Hollywood
source’s motives doubly impor- given the dense thicket of the Hol- Reporter, I have access to various
tant. Who’s telling me this and lywood community, there was a databases — and, even better, a
why? Does he have an ax to grind, real risk the story would spill out. helpful colleague who’s an expert
or is he just helping me out? Here, at using them. Once I’d learned
my source was impeccable; not a RULE NO. 3: GOOGLE the name of the writer’s wife, my
gossip, he didn’t expect me to take You’d be astonished how much in- colleague did his sleuthing, and
the information further. Only, now formation exists on the web. After twenty-four hours later: bingo! He
I did. a few hours of trolling, I found a sent an intern to the courtroom
horse-racing newspaper in which where the lawsuit was filed, and
RULE NO. 2: USE ALL YOUR
the writer discussed his gambling. later that day I had it on my desk
CONTACTS
It didn’t take long to discover with all the astonishing details.
Having one source might be fine for

RULE NO. 6: REACH BEYOND Think of Hollywood as a glorified In this case, two factors tipped
HOLLYWOOD high school, and know that if you my thinking toward going with
The lawsuit was just the begin- write something unpopular, you’ll the story: 1) The sheer size of the
ning, because now the story had be unpopular too. That’s what I writer’s losses, with $17 million
to be fleshed out, and that meant faced — and believe me, the criti- still owed to the IRS, made the
throwing a net past the usual sus- cism was intense, especially when story significant; and 2) The court
pects. Enlisting another reporter to the article came out and one of the papers that the writer’s wife had
help, I started venturing with him best-known comedy producers in filed made the matter indisputably
to racetracks and casinos to see the country tweeted his fury. But public. Once a suit has been filed,
what we could find. We got lucky: the truth was too compelling to ig- there’s no way it will stay secret.
At least two men we interviewed nore. That’s harsh for an innocent person
at the Santa Anita, California, track who wants to keep his life private,
RULE NO. 9: CHECK FOR LIBEL
provided valuable details, adding but it’s the way the system works.
The libel rules differ for public fig-
“color” to the story if nothing es- Publish and be damned, I thought,
ures (such as the writer) than for
sential. Now we had all the facts, better than not publish at all.
private people; still, I wanted to be
and just needed to verify them.
cautious in the extreme. In addi-
RULE NO. 7: GIVE EVERYONE A tion to running my story past two
CHANCE TO RESPOND high-level editors, I had our law-
It’s only fair to let each side have yer read it with great care before
STEPHEN GALLOWAY is the author of
his say, and so I reached out to the we went to print. She adjusted the
Leading Lady.
writer, his wife, his agent, and PR wording in some parts, but other-
people, and also the managers that wise gave me the green light.
his wife was suing. I pleaded with RULE NO. 10: DECIDE WHETHER TO
the writer’s team to have him speak; PUBLISH
I even offered to let him write his
This was the hardest part of all.
own story, because I wanted read-
With all the work I’d done, I still
ers to empathize with his predica-
had doubts. Should I print this
ment as much as possible. Nobody
story about a writer who clearly
agreed, but at least they had an op-
had a problem with addiction? Or
portunity to shoot down anything LEARN MORE 
should I kill it, simply because I
false.
felt sorry for him? Empathy and
RULE NO. 8: DON’T SUCCUMB TO objectivity were at war within me.
PRESSURE

Six Rules for
Writing Great
Detective Fiction
by SUSIE STEINER
You know the W. Somerset them. I’m not even kidding. I could is; they want to hear the couple ar-
Maugham quote: “There are three not write my novels without the guing about their sex life.
rules for writing a novel. Unfortu- detectives who advise me.
JUICY GOSSIP
nately, no one knows what they
Newspaper clippings are your When I’m trying to think up plot
are.” I’m on my fourth novel and
friend, as are true crime documen- (and I genuinely find it hard), I
my third detective novel and still
taries (shh, go away, I’m working make an effort to hone in on the
feel as though I’m driving through
on my novel while watching TV). things I find juiciest in life — ei-
a forest in dense fog at night with-
Go where your nose takes you. ther to hear about in gossip or to
out headlamps. So let me be your
Real cases, adapted into fiction read about in books and newspa-
guide.
and adjusted to fit your character’s pers. Which story last made you
WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW life situation, are the perfect basis absolutely fizz with curiosity? Did
What? You’re not a detective, you for crime novels. it involve sex? Infidelity? Rotten
say? You’ve never investigated a CUT TO THE CHASE childhoods? A grisly end? Go to
murder? And you’ve never been the marrow of what interests you,
All novels thrive on incident but
a victim of violent crime, inge- and don’t take your time getting
detective novels rely on a constant
niously covered up by a master- there. See above about entering the
stream of incident to make them
mind villain? What are you doing scene mid-action.
gripping. Don’t go describing the
in this genre?
rain for pages on end. Have some- TWIST SCHMIST
I’ve never held with the write- one walk into the room with a gun There’s a lot of pressure on writers
what-you-know thing because I instead. If you’re lacking pace, try of psychological thrillers to come
think writing is all about curios- entering your scene three para- up with some killer twist or high
ity and imaginative empathy. The graphs in. You’ll often find there concept. Worrying about this can
research is the fun part: The lives is preamble to the action that you tie you in knots and paralyze your
of cops are fascinating. Contact simply don’t need. No one cares creativity.
real cops, then make friends with what color the chair in the corner

Fuhgettaboutit. Suspense can hard is the ending? It has to be sat-
come from knowing the “who” but isfying, somewhat unexpected, yet
not the “why.” It can come from foreshadowed sufficiently so as to
the gradual release of clues, which not be out of the blue, not to men-
urges the reader to play detective. tion psychologically astute. Your
And it can come from your reader resolution needs to give the reader
being ahead of your cop, realizing that, “Ahhhhhh, of course! If only
a danger or threat before he or she I’d seen it earlier!” moment. I try to
does. So like I say, twist schmist. work out the ending at the begin-
ning of plotting, though I’m rarely
STRUCTURE IS EVERYTHING
successful in this.
I truly believe novels succeed or
BOOKS AREN’T WRITTEN — THEY’RE
fail because of their structure. Not
RE-WRITTEN
caring about structure is like say-
ing your body would be fine with- …as Michael Crichton once said.
out your skeleton. It wouldn’t.
I revise each manuscript upward of
You’d be a puddle.
ten times, allowing each draft to go
I recommend Carolyn Wheat’s cold before rereading and taking it
book How to Write Killer Fiction for apart like a cack-handed neurosur-
advice on structure. These days, geon. It’s okay for your first draft to
I’m fairly instinctive about it. I’m be an unbridled mess. It’s okay for
aware that the opening three pages the plot to have more holes than
have to be the very best writing a Swiss cheese. Your first draft is
that you are capable of. My revi- only your undercoat. Slap it up
sions will go over the first pages onto the wall and move onto the
ad nauseam. I know that by a third next phase. Because revising is
of the way through, I instinctively where the fun stuff happens.
want a secondary plotline to crash
up against the first inciting plot-
line, sending waves across it and
confusing just about everyone in
the novel. The plot literally thick- SUSIE STEINER is the author of
ens at this point. Persons Unknown.
I’ve suffered from mushy middle in

the past and am very anxious about
it these days. Try to avoid this with
lots of developments in the police
investigation and avoid flashbacks
at all costs. (Flashbacks are a rec-
ipe for mushy middle. When I read
them, I feel like I can hear the au-
thor humming, “Dum de dum de
LEARN MORE 
dum, is my word count up yet?”).
Then the ending: Oh my gosh, how

Genre as
Liberation: On
Learning to
Manipulate
Thriller Tropes
by LEE IRBY
Genres can be stern taskmasters, The Da Vinci Code wasn’t because interesting person — perhaps the
none more so than the thriller with he slavishly followed all the rules greatest dead body in all of com-
its conventions of suspense that of the genre; it’s because he had mercial fiction, a curator of the
come variously from Aristotle, years of erudition in his head that Louvre. This was the hook of all
Poe, and Dan Brown. The action genre allowed him to organize in hooks, and Dan Brown has been
must unfurl from the novel’s in- justly rewarded.
He began
ception and should be compressed
So the convention appears to be:
to fit into a short time window. A
web of intrigue should span the with a dead begin with a dead body. But an
author must push beyond that
body, but the
globe and reach the very highest
simplistic formula and constantly
vaults of power. Forces of darkness
dead body of
probe the outer limits, such as Al-
conspire to work against a sympa-
ice Sebold did in The Lovely Bones
a very
thetic protagonist who must battle
— with her dead body serving as
relentlessly, overcoming obstacles,
interesting
narrator. Here the genre established
solving puzzles, and usually sav-
a basic rule, but this basic rule in
ing the planet from wickedness or
annihilation. person ... no way precludes fictional possi-
bilities. A novel written in genre is
Taskmasters can coax mediocre still a novel, from its inception a
work from the lazy and great work playful medium to address deeply
from the inspired. The trick is in human concerns. Authors cannot
a coherent fashion. In effect, genre
mastering the conventions of genre allow genres to dictate action, to
gave him a road map to follow
with the required depth and con- assume control of the novel. At the
but without a destination clearly
fidence so that an author can turn same time, when writing a thriller,
marked out. He began with a dead
the tables. The reason that Dan an author can’t spend thirty pages
body, but the dead body of a very
Brown sold forty million copies of dwelling on how his mother once
kissed him good night as a child, as lives we recognize. She didn’t let ing parameters of a thriller, while
Marcel Proust did. genre replace the hard work all testing to see how much stress my
novelists must do. experiments can take.
Which leads to another thorny
problem: the relentless present of Genre can be liberating, in an artis- I fully expected Unreliable to fail,
a face-paced thriller. The building tic sense. To follow and break the since I was adhering to and violat-
of suspense resides at the heart of rules at the same time can lead to ing every convention of a mystery/
any good thriller. To find out what moments of true serendipity. For thriller I could summon. Eventu-
happens next is why readers turn me, it has elevated the concept of ally I assumed it would collapse,
the page, of course, and so action form, the actual structure of the and yet it never did because the
reigns supreme. But action without novel, to become the most crucial familiar tropes I subverted main-
strong characters is thin gruel in- element, because as in architec- tained the structure. To paraphrase
deed, and here is where true artistry ture, form follows function. The the Bobby Fuller Four, I fought the
comes in, the ultimate challenge of best architects use local materials genre, but the genre won.
genre that resembles a battle. Can and take advantage of natural to-
the author bend genre in a way that pography, as Frank Lloyd Wright
allows for full creative expression did with houses like Falling Water,
without sacrificing pace? which was built over a waterfall. LEE IRBY is the author of
Unreliable.
The conundrum lies in delineat- I look at genre in a similar way. A
ing character while delivering thriller, like a house, must have
plot twists and the other expected certain features: a bedroom, a dead
tropes. Gillian Flynn is particularly body, a kitchen, a bad guy. But there
adept at filling in the backgrounds is no limit to the possible arrange-
of her characters while maintaining ments of these tropes. In effect, the
the foot-falls of mounting dread. conventions of genre have opened
The vivid details of her small-town up new vistas of form to explore,
landscape in Gone Girl help fuel new ways of telling a story that de-
the action, showing that the world mand much from me as an author.
of her novel was fully realized. It’s I feel free to take risks knowing that LEARN MORE 
a thriller, but very much rooted in I must adhere to certain storytell-

The Fine Line
Between Humor
and Tragedy
by JARED RECK
I book-talk new titles almost every my readers laugh, right alongside In my first book, a YA contempo-
day in my eighth grade classroom, scenes that emotionally gut them. rary called A Short History of the
and I always tell my students that The key, in my own writing, is bal- Girl Next Door, that idea comes
while I love books that can make ancing the two, as each enhances across as, “Any given moment
me laugh, what I’m really look- the other. And while I don’t think just might be perfect.” Moments
ing for is the book that can make there’s any one way to pull this off, like “Trick or Treat” traditions,
me laugh and rip my guts out. there are a few ideas I cling to in bus rides to school, neighbor-
hood home run derbies, Candy-
Similar to recognizing the land played with little brothers, or

playing in the snow as kids come
importance of ordinary to mind. That stuff matters, you
moments, emotional know? How many of us, when we

lose a grandparent, or a parent, or
resonance can be found in anyone that matters to us, think,
specific, ordinary objects. I really wish I could just go back

and have one more cup of coffee
together — munch on one more of
Grandma’s sugar cookies — and
They’ll look at me like I’m crazy, trying to reach this range of emo- talk?
but I want to feel something when tional resonance.
Think about the moments that
I read. I want to be devastated, torn
ANY GIVEN MOMENT make up your characters’ lives
apart by a full range of emotions.
I love the idea in writing that in the before they ever step onto your
I write what I most love to read. particular lies the universal — that pages. What are the tiny moments
Which means, somehow, I’ve there’s beauty and emotion and they wish they could go back to?
got to pull off this same kind of connection in specific, ordinary, I use a simple character question-
magic — writing scenes that make seemingly insignificant moments.
naire before I ever start writing my Puppy as a nunchuck against your When your characters’ worlds are
stories — twenty, thirty pages of unsuspecting older brother, asleep crumbling around them, let them
my main character just rambling in the bunk below you. laugh. You may crush your readers,
and sharing his moments with but your characters will thank you.
Maybe, now, you really miss your
me, interview-style. When I get
brother.
stuck mid-story, I use the same
technique. Knowing these tiny The key is acknowledging — ex-
moments is crucial in making his ploiting, even — both ends of that
emotional responses authentic. JARED RECK is the author of
object’s timeline. In Short History,
A Short History of the Girl Next
the same objects that bring smiles
THE IMPACT OF THINGS Door.
can break hearts: a box of Nerds,
Similar to recognizing the impor- a crocheted hat, a stuffed giraffe,
tance of ordinary moments, emo- a tureen of inappropriately good
tional resonance can be found in gravy. And in the end, those same
specific, ordinary objects. When objects may help heal. It’s a bal-
teaching poetry in my Writing ance.
Workshop, I love the William Car-
los Williams line, “Say it, no ideas EMOTIONAL RELEASE VALVES
but in things.” To get my students One final thought on balancing hu-
to tackle the big things — love, mor and tragedy in your writing: L E A R N M OR E 
loss, identity, the alienation of Mr. Ellis, Matt’s English teacher
adolescence — they need to zoom in Short History, tells his students
in on the little things, in specific that there’s a fine line between
objects that hold emotional signifi- laughter and pain — that some-
cance for them. times things are so awful that all
you can really do about it is laugh.
Think of some of your own. The
more weirdly specific, the better: In our own lives, laughter often tags
• the porcelain chicken from your along behind despair, awkwardly
grandmother that sits on the waiting for the right moment to
windowsill above the sink in speak up. A couple years ago, my
your kitchen; wife lost her cousin to cystic fibro-
• the sour-smelling Pound Puppy sis. I remember sitting in the hos-
hidden beneath your pillow, all pital near the end, after the doctors
the stuffing long since wrung had removed her cousin from all
from its neck; transplant lists, listening to this
• the blue dog collar with the girl’s mother howl at old Eddie
stripe of little white bones, still Murphy clips from SNL. She and
hanging over the edge of the her daughter used to recite them
basket by the door to the garage. to each other around the house.
Hearing her laugh in that hospital
Each item has a story. I’d be willing
waiting room was simultaneously
to bet there are really funny parts to
funny and heartbreaking and beau-
that story if you look early enough
tiful. Her world was crumbling.
on its timeline. Maybe you used
She needed to laugh.
to use that floppy-necked Pound

How to Revise a
Draft Without
Going Crazy
by DINTY MOORE
Working one-on-one with first- filled with words — all pointing does, and you should see that as a
time memoirists and novelists at in the right direction, but in need good thing. So, here’s my advice:
various summer writing work- of some tender loving care — can
FIRST: GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING
shops over the past many years, be exhilarating. Words are like
I often find myself needing to de- clay: You can push them around Once you’ve found an ending to
liver the hard news. Perhaps the and make all manner of shapes your novel or memoir, look back at
most difficult lesson I have to pass with them. And clay reminds us your opening impulse. These two
along is this: of childhood. And childhood re- moments should be connected,
minds us of the time when we either by a direct line of action
Once you are done writing your and reaction running through the
were the most playful, most cre-
book, you aren’t really done writ- entire book, or through the cur-
ative, and least haunted by voices
ing your book. When I say this, rent of emotion. Sometimes these
telling us we can’t do things well
foreheads inevitably furrow. Faces two moments may also be linked
enough.
fall. by setting, by imagery, or through
In other words, you can approach a recurrent metaphor. There is no
Being reminded of just how much
revision with your head low and steadfast rule, except that if the be-
effort is required even after you’ve
your shoulders tensed, thinking, ginning and ending don’t feel cou-
put a period on the final sentence
“Boy my sentences are so sloppy pled in any significant way, you
of the final chapter of a multi-year
and wordy, and everything seems need to rethink plot and structure.
project can be deeply discourag-
slow. All in all, I’m a pathetic fail-
ing. Remind yourself that a book begins
ure.”
Because yes, revision does take ef- with a question: “How will she
Or you can approach revision overcome this unforeseen chal-
fort and time. It needn’t, however,
thinking, “Hey, here’s my chance lenge?” or “Will this experience
be painful.
to get it right. Let’s play around.” change him in some significant
The blank page is a frightening way?” The ending doesn’t always
Too many areas of life don’t afford
void. An early draft, however, answer the question fully, but it
you a second chance, but writing
should connect, and though the Listening to each sentence, feeling in finding an audience and those
beginning doesn’t ask the question it inside of my mouth as I speak it, who struggle, is when and where
explicitly, it should plant the seed. identifying words I use too often, in the revision process a writer
finding phrases that fall flat, is an throws in the towel and settles for
THEN: EVERYTHING IN THE MIDDLE
opportunity I don’t have in every- “good enough.”
Yes, everything. day life, in spoken conversation.
Learn to be just a bit tougher on
Getting it right just feels good.
Locate the emotional undercurrent your own work than the toughest
of your book — what I like to call Often I improve a sentence by editor you can imagine, and you
the Invisible Magnetic River — and speaking it out loud, then trying just might find that agents and edi-
review every word, image, meta- another pattern, substituting an- tors suddenly love your book.
phor, scene, character, and chap- other word, and then speaking the
ter. Look for scenes, even those you revised sentence out loud. My ear
labored over for days that may no is frequently more helpful than my DINTY MOORE is the author of
longer have any utility to the story, brain in identifying simple awk- The Story Cure.
or images and metaphors that — wardness and in recognizing the
though not poorly shaped — don’t more vexing problem of sentences
fit the overall flow. Though it is that sound good but say little.
heartbreaking to delete twenty
pages of honest effort, this momen- Of course, there are days that re-
tary agony is far more desirable writing can be a slog, just as writ-
than settling for a book that limps ing can be. There are moments in
or sputters somewhere midway. revision that I think I’ll never find
the solution, moments of despair
FINALLY: THE SENTENCE LEVEL and discouragement.
This part is the most fun for me,
But overall the process is invigo- LEARN MORE 
honestly, though perhaps I have
rating, and when working well,
an odd sense of what is enjoy-
invigorating for both my prose and
able. I love reading the manuscript
my story.
through from beginning to end, ev-
ery sentence, one at a time, OUT The difference, in my mind, be-
LOUD. tween writers who are successful
46 2017 Ultimate Writing Guide © 1995-2017 Penguin Random House. All rights reserved.

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’s

3 Five Tools to Give You a

7 Research, But Not Too Soon

12 The Secret to Feeling at

14 Faulkner, Welty, and Goethe BIANCA MARAIS

18 The Infinite Joys of

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2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 3

We can often get blocked because • Imagine lifting the weight of

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2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 5

In my Rizzoli and Isles crime se-

I no longer practice medicine, but

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2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 7

In every story, I challenge

myself to create characters

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I have an amazingly generous, per-

5. THOU SHALT ACCEPT THAT SOME

Sometimes I’ll be going along and a

going back and revising that scene

2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 11

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In the end, I am forced to follow

On What to Do If You Are Too Ter-

“Whatever you can do, or dream L E A R N M OR E 

According to your inclinations,

But if you stick to it, you may

Bonus Rule: People often ask, How

2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 15

2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 17

Hidden in any given part of

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In the seven hundred or so years

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In both those cases, I felt it was im-

A couple of times I’ve had to

FIONA DAVIS is the author of

2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 21

A story, it’s often said, is only as

vanquished, but against which

swept off our

2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 27

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4. TEACH YOUR READER

Travelers leave the comfort of their

BIANCA MARAIS is the author of

2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 29

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When we look back at a particular

CHOOSE A LENS AND STICK

It was very important to me to tell

2017 Ultimate Writing Guide 35