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Conflict and character are the heart of good fiction, and good mystery has both of those in spades.

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When I turned 35, I thought, 'Mozart was dead at 36, so I set the bar: I'm going to start writing a book on my next birthday.' I thought historical fi...more

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But it wouldn’t have half the power of a story in which Jamie and Claire truly conquer real evil and thus show what real love is. Real love has real c...more

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You don’t need to know the purpose as you write, but when you read over something you’ve written, you should be able to point to any given element—be ...more

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You want to anchor the scene with physical details, but by and large it’s better to use sensual details rather than overtly sexual ones.

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Okay. This has to be a credible threat. Ergo, we have to have seen (and heard about) the real damage Randall has done to Jamie thus far; we have to be...more

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Pointing out the emotion in a scene is like laughing at your own jokes.

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Watch a good movie sometime without reference to what’s happening but only with attention to how it was photographed; you’ll see the change of focus—z...more

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Don’t let characters talk pointlessly—they only talk if there’s something to say.

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As a rule of thumb, four consecutive lines of dialogue is about as much as you want to have without a tag.

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Don’t go overboard in avoiding “said.” Basically, “said” is the default for dialogue, and a good thing, too; it’s an invisible word that doesn’t draw ...more

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To some extent, emotions are universal and can be treated that way; no matter what the participants’ orientation or preference, they have sex for the ...more

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If you can’t look a line of dialogue in the face and say exactly why it’s there—take it out or change it.

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Just as an effective advertisement or page layout includes a lot of white space, a powerful scene requires immense restraint. Show things as simply as...more

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Almost everybody understands that you have to have something at stake for a story to be good.