Archives:

Tip#1: Begin at the beginning

Tip #2: See the whole

Tip #3: Learn to walk before you run

Tip #4: Read, read, read!

Tip #5: Never take advice from blowhard authors with personal websites

Tip # 6: Strive for a story that resonates

Tip # 7: Never write a second book

Tip # 8: Write a book that you would love to read

Tip # 9: Read your manuscript

The late, great Stanley Kubrick truly encapsulated my philosophy of literary style. One time, when confronted with an actor claiming that a scene shouldn't be changed because it was realistic, Kubrick quipped: “It may be realistic,but it's not interesting.” That about sums up my advice for new writers. When developing your style, don't worry about being right or wrong, or realistic, or politically correct, or whatever. Just tell the story in your own personal, quirky, unique way -- and it'll be interesting. And most importantly, it will be a tale that nobody else could have told in the exact same way.