The Mighty Opening
Welcome to The Mighty Opening, your guide to crafting a beginning that captivates and engages your readers from the very first page. The opening of your novel is your chance to make a powerful impression, to invite readers into the world you’ve created and make them eager to embark on the journey you’ve prepared for them …
Inside the Mind of an Author!
If we could peek into the mind of an author, what would we see? Often, more questions than answers. For beginning or aspiring writers, many of these questions inspire doubt rather than action. Do I have enough imagination? Do I know what steps to take? I see something in my mind, but can I get it on the page?
The Second Act Challenge: Energize Your Second Act
Many writers know their beginning and end but struggle with that all-important middle: the second act. As the longest section of any story, the second act is prone to “sagging,” losing that tight momentum that keeps readers turning the page ...
Theme: Your Storytelling Superpower
For many writers, theme feels like an afterthought. A foggy, academic notion. Maybe something you tack on once the plot’s in place. Or worse, something reduced to a bumper-sticker moral: Love conquers all. Crime doesn’t pay. Family is everything. But the truth is, theme is not a vague idea floating above your story—it’s the spine that holds everything together …
Revision: The Art of Listening Closely
When I was younger, I thought revision was about cleaning up a mess. Fix the commas, trim the fat, clarify the phrasing. But I’ve come to see it as something entirely different: a chance to listen more closely. To follow the quiet energy of a story where it actually wants to go—not where I first imagined it might …
More Than Magic: The Emotional Engine of Speculative Fiction
Speculative fiction has always been a mirror. But it doesn’t just reflect the world as it is—it distorts, refracts, and reshapes it. It remakes familiar truths into something sharp and strange—so we don’t just recognize them, we feel them again, with sudden and startling clarity …