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There’s a lot you can fix in a first draft. It’s why they’re first drafts. You can focus on character, world building, plot, inner cohesion,

An author can’t get away from criticism, no matter the level of talent. How do you cope with it? And is there a way for it to be beneficial

Like a lot of my how to pieces here, this one came from my own developing of a fight scene. I used to be really good at writing them as a te

When I was in college I took a class called Fantasy Literature, which I thought would be nothing but fun and actually turned out to be a lot

So, you say you have a dream, Mr. Martin Luther King Jr. of prospective fiction (or nonfiction) writer. Well, so do I, and so do millions of

Everyone always says to be original in your writing, but are we oversimplifying things? Can anyone be original anymore, and what are the pit

In my experience, writing battle scenes is a very dangerous endeavor. A writer has to walk a fine line between giving too much away and givi

When it comes to writing, there is nothing more daunting than writing a novel. Okay, maybe attempting to write a saga of twelve novels is a

Nearly five weeks ago, I battled nerves and self-doubt but finally managed to hit send on my manuscript submissions to the editors I pitched

Before I had finished the third draft of my manuscript, I kept it from view in much the same way a vampire would shy away from the sun. When

Right up front, give your readers what they want, information.

I am blessed to have my own writing room. It’s my daughters’ former bedroom, outfitted with a desk, a dresser, two overfilled bookcases, two

Most writers have used some form of internal monologue. Are we using it the right way?

In 2011,I embarked on one of the harshest undertakings; I placed what I thought was the final draft of my novel in a drawer for one year. Wh

I’m deep in the throes of editing my current WIP right now, Broken Time, which is why my poor blog has been taking a backseat. And what this

I had been writing fiction for several years before I had the chance to attend a workshop presented by Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith. Thi

A critique partner (CP) recently told me one of the trickiest parts of the group is remembering not all feedback need be applied. It reminde

The ability to write a novel from start to finish doesn’t own any kind of magical formula. Like anything we try to accomplish in life, certa

y Whitney Carter Fantasy is virtually synonymous with magic, all the way from fireball wielding sorcerers to dragons to simple elemental

You may not know it starting out, but every time you begin a story, you make promises to your readers. Even if you aren’t a