What If? is the title of a terrific book on writing by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter. The book contains plenty of worthwhile advice and prompts, but I love the title alone: What If? Those two words can be the start of numerous inspiring prompts. To give you a real-life example, consider the song “Taxi” by Harry Chapin, the song that launched his successful musical career. As the story goes … [Read more...]

While cruising the internet recently, I found this: http://www.openculture.com/2013/02/seven_tips_from_ernest_hemingway_on_how_to_write_fiction.html My thanks to Open Culture for putting together this list and explanations of Hemingway’s advice. I mostly agree with Hemingway. But hey, put ten writers in a room and you’ll get twenty different ideas of the best way to write. So, where do I agree … [Read more...]

An oft-repeated piece of advice for writers is “Write what you know.” That advice, strictly followed, could result in boring books. There might be a few experiences in my life, maybe a couple of people I’ve known, that can be fictionalized and sensationalized enough to warrant being the catalyst for a novel. By and large, though, my imagination is sparked by things I don’t know. I often develop a … [Read more...]