by Michael Mahin | Blog, Creativity, The Writing Process, Voice, Writers on Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Exercises, Writing Tips
Like most of us, Ray Bradbury was a lover of stories. Dime novels, comic books, anything with words. But as he wrote in his classic memoir on the craft of writing, Zen in the Art of Writing, this love of stories made it hard for him to find his own writing voice: “I... 
by Michael Mahin | Blog, Creativity, Story Development, The Writing Process, Writers on Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Exercises, Writing Tips
REVIEW: How to Be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play (Writer’s Digest Books 2010). Over the last couple months, my goal has been simple: to engage in what Geoff Colvin, author of the book Talent is Overrated, calls “deliberate... 
by Michael Mahin | Blog, Book Reviews, Creativity, The Writing Process, Writers on Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Tips
REVIEW: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield (Black Irish Books, 2012). Resistance is the name that best-selling author Steven Pressfield gives to writer’s block and those things, both internal and... 
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...
