I watched a movie this weekend, one of the best thrillers out there for continually raising stakes and forcing the viewer at the end of her seat: Cellular. In a …
Ask the Doctor: How do I determine my character’s Noble Cause?
I talk a lot about the Noble Cause, or purpose of a character as a key to discovering their motivations behind their actions. A Noble Cause is that one thing …
Picks: Straight Up by Lisa Samson
One thing we talk about as authors is reading. To be a great writer, you must be a great reader. In fact, it’s probably the primo craft study: reading. Craft …
Prescriptions: Listen To Me!
There you are, you’ve got a blank computer screen, and the smallest tickle of an idea, something you’ve read, or seen, some question you think might be interesting tackled in …
Doctor’s Notes: Creating Story World
Why, why, why is JK Rowling’s Potter series so popular? What is it about her stories that capture us so, that make us, and roughly 500 million other readers, stand …