by Katy Kauffman,@KatyKauffman28    Soft hues of gold, orange, and pink painted the sky as the sun set on that frigid December evening. I clutched my coat collar closer as I left the office. That’s when I saw her. Shivering on the curb, she wore only a tattered hoodie and…

By D.L. Koontz, @DLKoontz   Description involves the creation of mental images that allow readers to fully experience our stories. Appropriate description sets the tone, enabling the fullest reader impact. Critical Point: Appropriate description does that. Inappropriate description, however, does something completely different. Appropriate description is as important to books, as…

By Aaron Gansky, @adgansky Sometime after Flannery O’Connor’s death, her friends, Sally and Robert Fitzgerald, compiled several of her essays and speeches on writing in a book called Mystery and Manners. If you’re serious about the art of fiction, this is a book you’ll want to read and keep handy…

by Katy Kauffman, @KatyKauffman28   How do you know when you’ve written enough in your book or chapter, and it’s time to stop? Some may say … When the deadline comes. When it’s 1 am and you’re going cross-eyed. When you can’t think of anything else to say. When the…

By Todd Allen, @ToddAllenAuthor One unfair stereotype which plagues writers is how we hear voices in our heads (like there’s something wrong with that?). What most non-writers fail to understand is when writers focus on their characters’ thoughts, actions, and feelings inspiration sometimes manifests as words and phrases in our minds.…

By Deb Haggerty, @DebHaggerty     ed•it \’e-dət\ vt [back-formation fr. editor] (1791) 1 a : to prepare (as literary material) for publication or public presentation b : to assemble (as a moving picture or tape recording) by cutting and rearranging c : to alter, adapt, or refine esp. to…