I Should Be Writing

"Your character must want something, even if it's a glass of water!" Characters must always have wants, but it takes a bit more work to think about what they need, and more importantly, when in the story for them to address those needs.

I talk about my books from initial concept all the way through to the end, both Six Wakes and my current WiP.

I have three projects going on right now that need edits, and for the next two months I'm going to be doing this thing that I HATE. So let's go into why, and how.

Every few years there's a very concerned think piece about the innocent writer who got a six figure advance and blew it all, or sold zero books, or just felt betrayed by publishing, and I am sick of it. If only we all could get articles written about us when we have a bad day at work, or show ourselves unwilling to do basic research into our new profession.

Had a personal emergency and was unprepared, so the audience and Twitter questions keep me going!

People talk about character and plot and climax, but no one covers how novel structure is needed to put it all together.

Once you're done with your novel or story, what do you do? Edits? Submissions? Beta readers? Dongwon Song's Newsletter Agent Talk (I mistakenly call it Ask an Agent

There is a lot of contradictory advice on the internet. Even the same articles/lists will have contradictory advice. And when are looking for specific advice, the pithy "Do this, no, wait, don't do this" blog posts are infuriating.

After 20 years I've finally figured out how to find that elusive time to write. And the reason I never found it before was because finding time, or making time, is more challenging than people say it is.

Conflict shows us how people relate to each other, much better than a bad day will.