SELLING STORYTELLING by Mark Canter

A recent poll conducted on behalf of Romance Writers of America found that the chief factor that motivates book browsers to choose...

Let’s talk about talking. The three different types of dialogue are 1) direct, 2) indirect, and 3) mixed. Direct dialogue is the...

 Unless the plot of your romance absolutely demands a real-life locale, you’ll do yourself a favor by inventing your setting—but not out...

If a detective snooped through your residence while you were away, chances are he or she could construct a fairly detailed and reliable pr...

Beginning writers repeatedly encounter the advice, “Write what you know.” Of course, if writers heeded this counsel narrowly and repor...

  Second Nature: a love story with the heart of a fairy tale and the brains of science fiction. 

First, what is STORY?   A story tells of characters with a problem in search of a solution. Speculative fiction, in that sense, is lik...