Writing Close – Secrets

Writing Close – Secrets

This is a big one. Maybe it should have been the first in the series. Any time you have two characters you want to be close, give them a secret to share. There’s nothing better than being in each other’s confidence. It divides your characters into distinct...
Character Flaw vs. Character Arc

Character Flaw vs. Character Arc

One of the most dangerous misconceptions (relatively speaking, of course) in the academia of creative writing concerns the character flaw. I blame the internet. In a day and age where everyone gets a platform, and where a huge percentage of writers are self taught...
Writing Close – Touching

Writing Close – Touching

One of the most obvious tools in the romance toolbox for showing close relationships between characters is simply to have them touch each other. Don’t worry, I don’t mean explicit touching. This isn’t a how-to for writing naughty love scenes. When I...
Gardening is Not Bullshit

Gardening is Not Bullshit

In fact, I am willing to bet that every author does it at some point or another. First of all, what is gardening? It’s basically free-writing. You sit down and start typing with no concrete plan in mind. I’ve also seen this method called pantsing, as in...