One thing we really need to know when planning any kind of production schedule is – how long will it take us to write the next book? If you’ve written and finished one or more books, you can probably figure out a good estimate on how long the next one will take. If you haven’t…

Thinking back over the difficult times I’ve gone through, and how it has affected my writing, and then thinking about the good times, I started thinking about how life is an ebb and flow. Of course, that would explain why my writing good times and hard times also have an ebb and flow. Knowing that…

Thinking back over the difficult times I’ve gone through, and how it has affected my writing, and then thinking about the good times, I started thinking about how life is an ebb and flow. Of course, that would explain why my writing good times and hard times also have an ebb and flow. Knowing that…

Fantasy writer Stephanie Shackelford is our guest today explaining how Toastmasters helped her become a better writer. She realized one day that what she learned about making better speeches was spilling over into her writing. While Stephanie has found that it’s in the rewrite process that she’s seen these improvements, I was listening to her…

Fantasy writer Stephanie Shackelford is our guest today explaining how Toastmasters helped her become a better writer. She realized one day that what she learned about making better speeches was spilling over into her writing. While Stephanie has found that it’s in the rewrite process that she’s seen these improvements, I was listening to her…

When thinking of the short list of well-known science fiction writers of our time, when thinking about some of the most prolific writers of our time, Ray Bradbury’s name is bound to come up. I saw a presentation he did in 2001 in this YouTube video and he presented an exciting challenge to writers. Write…

When thinking of the short list of well-known science fiction writers of our time, when thinking about some of the most prolific writers of our time, Ray Bradbury’s name is bound to come up. I saw a presentation he did in 2001 in this YouTube video and he presented an exciting challenge to writers. Write…

Sometimes we are so busy trying to be polite, trying not to get too full of our own achievements, that we miss out on the simple joy of accepting a well-meant compliment. Or we’re worried about having offended or irritated someone and we can’t seem to accept it when they say they’re not offended or…

Sometimes we are so busy trying to be polite, trying not to get too full of our own achievements, that we miss out on the simple joy of accepting a well-meant compliment. Or we’re worried about having offended or irritated someone and we can’t seem to accept it when they say they’re not offended or…

James Scott Bell is a Christy Award-winning and International Thriller Writers Award-winning author in several fiction genres, and a beloved and sought-after writing teacher. He has written many nonfiction titles on the craft of writing, including several for Writer’s Digest Books. In today’s episode, Jim talks about how he got the idea for his craft…