Auto Draft

If you’ve been reading this column for any length of time, if you’ve been my student in a class or workshop, if you’ve heard me lecture about the art and craft of writing, you know I consider characterization the single most important element of good fiction. You are entitled to another [...]

The Tangled Web We Weave

Creating the second draft of a novel can involve delictately altering the original story or it may require radical [...]

Some Folks Don’t Like Shakespeare

Some folks don’t like Shakespeare.

Some folks hate Beethoven.

Some folks despise Rembrandt.

I’ve always felt that there was an absolute standard for art.  Do it right, take care, use your craft and knowledge and experience, and everyone should agree that what you did was mighty fine.   But a recent incident with a friend reminded me of what I already [...]

Alternate reality

I’m not a 13-year-old boy from Western Maine, but I pretended to be one on the internet.

That sounds a lot worse than it really is. It wasn’t an undercover sting to flush out predators. It was part of an alternate reality game (ARG) run by Scribner to promote Under the [...]