First impressions are crucial. Your initial response when you meet a person gets imprinted in your mind and is hard to alter, and this is equally true of a reader’s first impression of a character in fiction. Their response to the protagonist, in particular, is supremely important ... (for more, click on the article's title)


"Ah," he Prevaricated: the Delights of Dialogue

Sometimes people can’t wait to speak. Sometimes they’d almost rather die than speak. Sometimes people don’t say what they mean. Sometimes they don’t mean what they say. All of this makes dialogue stimulating to read – and challenging to write ...(for more, click on the article's title)


Bold Beginnings: Your Story's Inciting Incident

Knowing where to start your novel is crucial. It’s also difficult. New writers often make the mistake of beginning with description – pages, even chapters, describing characters, backstory, setting – before the story gets rolling. The trouble is, readers can’t feel involved with characters until they see them in action ... (for more, click on the article's title.)


Tips From a First Draft Survivor

You write fiction because you’re creative. So why is creating so difficult? I believe it's the tyranny of expectations. You sit down in front of that blank screen and you have to produce. I don't know any writer who isn't somewhat cowed by that pressure.For me, the good news was discovering a secret to dealing with the pressure: keep expectations low and standards high. It all comes down to three words: embrace the work. The work of writing can be a joy, but ... (for more, click on the article's title)


Judge's Comments: Short Story Competition
I was the judge for the Canadian Authors Assocation Niagara branch short story competition 2004. My remarks were published as the Introduction in a book of the winning stories.


The Write Stuff This article about teaching a Creative Writing class for the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies appeared in “In the Hills” magazine in March, 2005.

Risk Taking for Writers—PWAC Seminar March 9, 2004