Expansion Pack: Comedy

Hi, Gang. Craig with you again, and we’re going to try something different. It won’t work for everyone, but what does in this business? I’m of the belief that you can’t just bleed for 300 pages. Even in serious tales you have to give the readers a breather. My go-to in those instances is a …

Plants and Payoffs

Hi Gang. Craig with you once again. Since today isn’t a holiday, I feel no compulsion to make some kind of arbitrary holiday tie in. That can be almost scary. Last night (Writing this days ahead) I spotted a great example of plants and payoffs. This is a frequent topic of writing blogs, but it …

Special Items: Fantasy

Hi gang, Craig with you again. In my last post, we talked about special items that you might find in a paranormal tale of some kind. The key involved a list of things to consider when creating an item for your story. Let’s include the list again. • Enhancing the world you are building. • …

Expansion Pack: The Crucible

Hi gang, Craig with you again. Most of my posts seem to be about characters, so why should today be any different? Today, I’m going to share a little tip to help your main character get that all-important character arc. Every person out there has an idea of who they are. There are things they …

Turmoil

Hi gang, Craig here today. One thing good fiction requires is a bit of turmoil. Your main character has to have something unsettling going on in his or her life. I write speculative fiction, so it’s fairly easy to give an example or two. I could dive right into an alien invasion or zombie apocalypse …