A good chapter is like a treasure map.  It will lure you in.  It will lead you through uncharted territory. And, at the end, it will not yield the treasure — it will just make you want it more. What … Continue reading →

  “That’s not writing; that’s typing.” Jack Kerouac was on the wrong end of that review, one spoken by Truman Capote but, nevertheless, a review. If there is anything more contentious than the relationship between author and critic it would … Continue reading →

Writers write, of course. So do engineers, judges, shop clerks, and prison guards. What writers do, however, is something different – writers tell us about the world in a new way, a previously unseen way, with a story written from a … Continue reading →

Part Two: “You are to start tomorrow as their maid. If you do well, you will be paid eight stuivers a day. You will live with them.” I pressed my lips together. Don’t look at me like that, Griet.,” my … Continue reading →

Part One: Readers with some passing knowledge of literature might be startled by reading in The Three Musketeers a passage in which D’Artagnan refers to Gulliver’s travels more than a hundred years Jonathan Swift invented them. Dumas had got it … Continue reading →

A single thread can take the spider to the prey, but a web can catch more food and keep it safe until needed. What could this possibly have to do with A Novel Approach to writing? The answer lies in … Continue reading →

Out of Step “Somebody had decided that all these soldiers marching around town needed recreation, so the pier—a fishing pier hitherto known simply as Municipal Pier and whose claim to fame was that down at the end of it was … Continue reading →

Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and Paris policewoman Sophie Neveu overcame one obstacle after the other in a never- ending series of lucky breaks that depended on walkie-talkies that could not work, Swiss banks whose passwords were written by Sudoku gamers, … Continue reading →

“Grouard yanked his walkie-talkie off his belt and attempted to call for backup. All he heard was static…” “Au secours!” the guard’s voice yelled. … “Au secours!” he shouted again into his radio. Static. “He can’t transmit,” Sophie realized, recalling … Continue reading →

Romance is on my mind — today is my and Alice’s anniversary, and all I think about are words of love. For writers, that can be a lot to think about. Writing dialogue is hard enough without having to explore … Continue reading →

It all started with a phone call. My father’s voice, quavery with excitement, crackles down the line. “Good news, Nadezhda. I’m getting married!” I remember the rush of blood to my head. Please let it be a joke! Oh, he’s … Continue reading →

Dialogue breathes life into writing. People do talk. Characters must talk. It’s that simple. Dialogue can be written to do anything that omniscience can do, whether it is describing an event or moving from one scene to the next or … Continue reading →

In the middle of all these heavy topics about writing scenes, characters, conflicts and so on, it is easy to lose sight of the basics. This is about as basic as I can get: writing is like shooting free throws. … Continue reading →

Imagine that you are blind. Someone is reading a story to you. It might be a news story. It might be an essay. It might be fiction. The page is turned and your reader discovers that in lieu of words, … Continue reading →

Characters are no more interesting than the conflict that defines them. In character-driven fiction the most interesting characters are those whose conflict is that they turn out to be different than anyone thinks they are, including themselves. Let’s consider a … Continue reading →

An author must be able to write characters, fiction or non-fiction, who are memorable. But — how does one do it? The answer, briefly, is that for each character who truly is worthy of being in your story or book, … Continue reading →

Writers need more than just something to write about. We need to write those somethings in interesting ways. However, all too often we confine ourselves by the familiar, being limited by our experiences, our acquaintances, and our language. We know … Continue reading →

Welcome to A Novel Approach, a weekly (more or less) note about writing. Join us and follow us. I’ll post the tip on Twitter at JWLBooks and the full note on Facebook at Jack Woodville London, at the MWSA site, … Continue reading →

Welcome to A Novel Approach, a weekly note about writing. Join us and follow us. I’ll post the tip on Twitter at JWLBooks and the full note on Facebook at Jack Woodville London, at the MWSA site, and right here … Continue reading →

Welcome to A Novel Approach, a weekly note about writing. Join us and follow us. I’ll post the tip on Twitter at JWLBooks and the full note on Facebook at Jack Woodville London, at the MWSA site, and right here … Continue reading →

Welcome to A Novel Approach, a weekly note about writing. Join us and follow us. I’ll post the tip on Twitter at JWLBooks and the full note on Facebook at Jack Woodville London, at the MWSA site, and right here … Continue reading →

Welcome to A Novel Approach, a weekly note about writing. Join us and follow us. I’ll post the tip on Twitter at JWLBooks and the full note on Facebook at Jack Woodville London, at the MWSA site, and right here … Continue reading →

Welcome to A Novel Approach, a weekly note about writing. Join us and follow us. I’ll post the tip on Twitter at JWLBooks and the full note on Facebook at Jack Woodville London, at the MWSA site, and right here … Continue reading →

A Novel Approach Number Five: Caution children, exciting Welcome to A Novel Approach, a weekly note about writing. Join us and follow us. I’ll post the tip on Twitter at JWLBooks and the full note on Facebook at Jack Woodville … Continue reading →

Welcome to A Novel Approach, a weekly note about writing. Join us and follow us. I’ll post the tip on Twitter at JWLBooks, and the full note on Facebook at Jack Woodville London, at the MWSA site, and right here … Continue reading →

…can leap tall tales with a single bound, is faster than a speeding gerund, is stronger than the strongest adjective. In the wrong hands, it can make your tale hard to follow. In the write hands, paragraphs can become a … Continue reading →

Welcome to A Novel Approach, a weekly note about writing. The Military Writers Society of America asked me to write a weekly note with tips on writing, cruel payment (or punishment) for honoring me as the 2011 Author of the Year … Continue reading →

Welcome to A Novel Aproach, a weekly note about writing. The Military Writers Society of America asked me to write a weekly note with tips for writing, cruel payment (or punishment) for honoring me as the 2011 Author of the Year … Continue reading →