From time to time, every writer must step up to the podium and give a speech. Nothing is more painful than a writer fumbling her way through an ill-prepared talk. No one wants to wear those shoes. To avoid a public speaking faux pas, consider taking...

So you’ve got an awesome story and have created some memorable characters, but you’re not too sure about their names. You can be safe and do the generic thing, but why take that little something extra away from your story when you don’t have to? Instead...

In the world of search engines, none is bigger or more widely used than Google. While others pursue a share of the popular search market, the truth is that a lot of the smaller search engines share databases with Google. So once you're indexed on Google...

Twitter, Facebook, and other tools in the social media toolbox may seem overwhelming, especially if your goal is classic prose rather than 280-character tweets. If used strategically and efficiently, however, social media can raise your visibility...

Twitter, Facebook, and other tools in the social media toolbox may seem overwhelming, especially if your goal is classic prose rather than 280-character tweets. If used strategically and efficiently, however, social media can raise your visibility...

Many authors choose to blog as way to connect with readers. Blogging is a time intensive activity but there are various tools that will help an author streamline the blogging process and blog more effectively. Planning tools Blogs are publications...

Authors need viable story ideas. But where to find them? In truth, story ideas are everywhere, but successful authors are like gem hunters: they keep the diamonds and toss the quartz. A good story idea has to be weighty enough to support a novel, and...

Given the difficult task of converting the novel The Orchid Thief into screenplay form, Charlie Kaufman defined adaptation by creating the quaint masterpiece known as Adaptation. By writing himself and his nonexistent twin into the film Kaufman was able...