I want to introduce a new series on this site, which will be about your metaphorical garden and my literal one. Sort of. I don’t mean I...

You finished a draft of your novel. Congratulations are in order! Let’s talk about the next steps. Whenever you choose to edit, remember...

Children are stressed. In interviews with adolescents and children at remarkably young ages, they are self-reporting depression, sadness,...

When should you edit your work? Much like how you should write your book, there is no right answer. There are many options, and you need...

I am recently back from a work trip and short vacation in the same area, and I am reminded once again of the statement I decided on...

You have exercised every day for a month, but you barely lose one pound. You lift every day for three months and can barely add a pound...

It has taken me two years of concerted effort, reading several books, listening to many podcasts, and writing multiple novels and short...

This morning an ad on YouTube mentioned that I could have an AI assistant to help tie together all my known financial inputs and outputs...

How much negativity in your feedback can you stand? 10%... 20%? 90%? Every writer needs negative criticism. We need to be told no. We...

I am a new reader of Brian Staveley’s work. I regret to admit I had not seen his previous trilogy when it hit the shelves and haven’t...

Who you link to for a Point of View (POV) is extremely important in storytelling. I am going to give an example of a very short piece...

We have talked before about good and bad dialogue. In summary, bad dialogue is dialogue that is long-winded, generic, tells us nothing,...

Do you want to reduce stress levels, lower heart rate, and ease tension in the muscles? Usually, this kind of claim is a start toa bad...

Crafting dialogue that sounds like real speech while still being purposeful and engaging can be difficult. Real conversations often...

I read Dune many years ago, when I was in my teens, and I didn’t care for the book. I never moved on to other books in the series. But....

“People are not lazy, … they have goals which do not inspire them.” – Tony Robbins. I have never particularly subscribed to Tony Robbins...

We have talked about dialogue tags, action tags, and the setting dialogue inside of a larger context of the tale. For the moment I want...

Let’s talk briefly about mental health. According to the CDC “In 2020, 20.3% of adults had received any mental health treatment in the...

I am going to postulate that life is about the slope of the incline. When we are young, high school seems hard, but if you are a...

In novels, song and verse are, or can be, a kind of dialogue that elevates the piece. In real life throughout human history we have sung....