Articles

  • Tip #1

    James A. Michener was a prolific writer, and several of his books became movies, such as South Pacific and Sayonara. Read Mr. Michener’s tips numerous times and let them become part of your thinking. Tip #1. “The rules seem to be these: if you have written a successful novel, everyone invites you to write short

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  • Writing Wisdom from James A. Michener

    Do you daydream about becoming a famous writer earning a big paycheck from a profusion of royalties? Well, don’t give up on the dream, but I’d like to pass along several tips I’ve gleaned from James A. Michener – author of Hawaii, Texas, Centennial, and many others. I’ll share some of them with you this

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  • What’s Your Chosen Writing Genre?

    Three days ago, I said “I’ll talk about Documentary Historical Fiction another time.” Well, this is the time. The online Britannica defines historical novel as a novel that has as its setting a period of history that attempts to convey the spirit, manners, and social conditions of a past age with realistic detail and fidelity to historical

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  • Lightning is Intriguing

    Two nights ago, a lightning storm passed over our town. I didn’t think much about it because I didn’t see the flashes or hear the thunder. I was sound asleep. But my office, which is located about 70 feet behind the house, felt the current. My computer was not plugged into the wall and my

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  • That’s Hard to Believe!

    A friend – I’ll call him Jim – called and asked me to meet him for coffee. After taking a sip, Jim got right to the point. “How long is it supposed to take to get a book published?” He seemed a little aggravated. “What’s up, Jim?” “I’ve tried to contact several publishing companies, but

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  • What Are Your Preferred Genres?

    Bible, science, and history have been my chosen genres for the past 45 years. However, within the past 3 years I adopted Creative Nonfiction, and am considering Documentary Historical Fiction. The shortest definition of Creative Nonfiction is: a true story well told. Best selling author, mentor, and instructor Lee Gutkind said, “I am often asked:

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  • You Might Want to Know …

    One of our readers recently emailed us with a few questions. I want to share the primary question with you because it seems that many people don’t know this bit of info. “Can changes be made to my book after it’s published? And if so, how do we go about it?” The first answer is

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  • Tonight, Change Your Clocks

    Don’t forget: tonight at 2 AM, we lose an hour. But don’t lose sleep over losing sleep; plan ahead and relax. Unless Congress changes things, you’ll get that lost hour back at 2 AM on Sunday, November 3, 2024. In the mean time … Write Creatively.

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  • Don’t Quit Writing – Just Change Directions

    In 1982 I started writing a book about ancient Middle-eastern history. I enjoy studying about Abra … what did you say? Did I finish it? Well, not quite. I mean, no. I have perhaps over 500 pages of research on it, and have written 18 chapters. But often an idea for change hits my mind,

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  • Did you Vote?

    Did you make it to the voting polls on Super Tuesday? Did your candidates win? I’m not supposed to talk about voting … or am I? Let me remind you: everything that happened, is happening, or might yet happen can be written about. I wrote for newspapers every week – sometimes several times a week

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