Tag: on writing

Craft & Voice

Bad Guys Have Reasons: Writing Villains Who Aren't Cardboard

The worst thing you can do to a villain is make him evil. How to write bad guys with reasons — and why the real villain is the system.

Craft & Voice / Inside Moldeth City

Gravy, Not Sauce: Why the Small Stuff Carries the Whole Book

Call it "sauce" and the reader who knows closes the book. Why the small, specific stuff carries the whole novel.

Inside Moldeth City

The Purge: The Real History Behind Moldeth City's Ground Zero

The feds called it a victory. The old bosses had rules; the ones who replaced them didn't. The real history behind Moldeth City's ground zero.

Craft & Voice

The Mob Movies Lied to You

No speeches. No guns waved over dinner. What the mob movies sold you was opera. Here's the uglier, quieter truth.

Craft & Voice

How to Tell the Reader a Guy Is Dangerous Without Saying It

The sentence "he was dangerous" does nothing. Here's how to make a reader believe it — without ever using the word.