by Michael Mahin | Blog, Book Reviews, Character Development, Characterization, Writing Advice, Writing Tips
REVIEW: Getting Into Character: 7 Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors by Brandilyn Collins. [This is Part 2. Click here for Part 1.] Kurt Vonnegut has some great, snappy sayings about writing. Here’s one of my favorites: “Every character should want something,... 
by Michael Mahin | Blog, Book Reviews, Characterization, Writers on Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Tips
REVIEW: Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors by Brandilyn Collins (Wiley 2002). If you’re like me, character is tough. Sure, I can get a character sketch together, but it’s hard turning that sketch into a living breathing... 
by Michael Mahin | The Writing Process, Writers on Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Tips
Okay! I said I’d post my own goals for the coming months and here they are! Remember, these goals serve the overall “vision” statement I made in my previous post. If you haven’t read that post, you should. It explores novelist and writing teacher James Scott Bell’s... 
by Michael Mahin | Blog, Writers on Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Tips
The single most important step in the realization of your writing dream is setting a goal. It’s for this reason that the process of goal setting figures prominently into the programs of every self-help/ life-coach everrrrrrrrrrrrr. Not an exaggeration. Check out the... 
by Michael Mahin | Blog, Children's Writing, Picture Books, Writing Advice, Writing Tips
Incidental vs. Cause-and-Effect Action: Do You Know the Difference? This is Part 2 of my look at Ann Whitford Paul’s Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication (Writers Digest Books, 2009). You can read Part 1, which is about the one...
