Writing Better Books by Interviewing Your Characters

by Ane Mulligan @AneMulligan

When interviewing our characters, we have to remove our novelist’s hat and don a journalist’s. You’re after a story, and it’s not time to be nice. 

A true journalist isn’t particularly concerned with the target’s feel8lings. In fact, a great journalist—a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist—goes for the jugular. He’ll poke, probe and pick scabs to get his story. He won’t leave his victim alone until they blurt out their secrets, their hidden desires, their deepest hurt. 

Novels are Way More than Just Writing a Story

by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

I’ve been writing seriously for the better part of fifteen years, and I still love to sit at the feet of those who are successful and pick their brains. They offer valuable guidance. When a new writer hands me a manuscript it’s easy to see their passion for the story. The concept is good, and they have an idea where the story should go, but as I begin to read, things start to fall apart.