Working On
“So, what are you working on?” I get asked that question by family members, friends, fellow writers … my conscience. Today I had a stranger
Tag: writers on writing
“Hamnet”: Manipulation… or Just Great Dramatic Structure? Could It Be Both?
“Hamnet,” Chloé Zhao’s 2025 film, dramatizes the emotional conflict that led to Shakespeare writing Hamlet. It’s fictionalized, of course—we know very little about the historical
Part Two: The Rules of Detective Novels
Part 2 (Part 1 here) A servant must not be chosen by the author as the culprit. (WHAT ABOUT “THE BUTLER DID IT”? I THINK
SS Van Dine and the Rules of Detective Stories, Part 1
Know the Rules: If Only to Break Them I’m working on a mystery novel, part of my Regency CSI series, and so I’ve been looking
A Writer’s Revenge
The Book of My Enemy Has Been Remaindered One of my books got “remaindered,” so I got to buy hundreds of copies very cheap. (Remaindering
Multiplicity and The Splintered Heart
Multiplicity There’s a splinter of ice in the heart of every writer. Graham Greene — Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself!
Contranyms: When the Same Word Means the Opposite
Contranyms—When the Same Word Has Opposite Meanings NYMS! Nym is a suffix that stands for “word,” and it’s usually used for word pairs. We all
Cats and Coincidence and Dappled Things
Cats and Coincidences and Dappled Things By Alicia Rasley Coincidence is trivial, tricky, falsely weird. But… it’s also magical. As fiction writers, we’re told to
The Family Motto
The Family Motto Let’s try a thought experiment: Family motto! Don’t we all have a family motto? By this I mean the secret or open
Making Memories and Hooking Them Later Part 2
After compiling that memory book for my parents, I realized that there’s something special about the physical representation of memory. I used to scorn my
Making Memories and Hooking Them Later
Hi, everyone! This week I want to discuss what I call “Life Hooks”—the recording of memories that lets us yoke our life experiences together. I’ve
“Not what my life’s about”: Story Structure and Theme in Harry Chapin’s “Taxi”
(First post about “Taxi” here.) More about the story song “Taxi” by Harry Chapin. Let’s look at those other story elements—structure, motif, and theme. Structure
“Taxi” Story Song: Taking Tips, and Getting Stoned
Flying in My Taxi In the previous posts, we’ve seen how different ways a 3- or 4-minute song can tell an entire story from beginning