By Aaron Gansky @ADGansky Charles Baxter, in Burning Down the House, Essays on Fiction, devotes an entire chapter to a principle he calls “Stillness.” To paraphrase a rather lengthy and well documented argument, he proposes that stillness, a moment in fiction where action subsides and characters/narrators focus on the minutiae of their…

By Aaron Gansky @ADGansky I wanted to touch on a subject that’s been on my mind lately. When an idea for a novel pops into our minds, the first thing we like to do is flesh out a few major plot points, which is fine, but it can become a…

By Aaron Gansky @ADGansky Recently, we made a painful decision to part with a close family member: satellite television service. The good news is that we haven’t missed it. Instead, we reallocated our funds, partially, to season passes to Disneyland. There are several reasons why we chose to do this,…

By Aaron Gansky @ADGansky Ever met someone who plays the perpetual victim? Doesn’t much matter what happens to them, they spin events in such a way that they become the victim, either of other people’s actions, perceived actions, thoughts, fate, or cosmic events. I find it pretty tough to relate…

By Aaron Gansky @ADGansky Maybe it’s a psychological thing, some innate fear that our readers won’t pick up on our subtlety. So we over write. I’m a huge offender of this, but I’ve seen some published works that are pretty bad, too. Have you seen the “almost” sentence? Jake was…

By Aaron Gansky @ADGansky Endings can be a tricky business. It’s tough to do well. Here are a few things you want to keep in mind as you’re wrapping your book up. First Know where you’re going. Even if you don’t have an outline, have a plan in mind. It…