Want to create your own memorable character names? Here are some strategies that work... and some pitfalls to sidestep.  Continue reading...

Here are seven tips to help you sit down actually write something when your subject makes you quiver with boredom.  Continue reading...

Out of professional curiosity, I asked first-time author and former Google exec Jessica Powell about how she created the character, company, and place names in her novel The Big Disruption.  Continue reading...

Here's what boredom, blood and books have to do with great writing, according to great writers.  Continue reading...

Perfectionism should have been the furthest thing from my mind after getting — and recovering from — a repetitive strain injury. But I was reluctant to resume working on my book. It wasn't so much the pain in my arm. It was more my concern that my writing wasn't any good. Could that have been perfectionism speaking?  Continue reading...

Since 1991, November has been National Novel-Writing Month, when thousands of aspiring writers take up the challenge of knocking out a 50,000-word draft of a novel in 30 days. I don't know much about writing novels, but I have learned one thing: Don't call your opus a "fiction novel."  Continue reading...