By letting the reader imagine all the filler details, the stuff that’s not actually important to the plot, readers create for themselves a scene that is both vivid and completely believable.

For better or worse, art (like life) is subjective. Not one of us looks at a story, a painting, a movie, or a concert in the same way.

Writing for an audience, instead of merely to an audience means you’re molding your artistic vision to please the whims of the public.

Nine traits of a good beginning.

Is angst a necessary ingredient for creativity?

Characters need to do something to prove themselves worth defining.

Genres too often lead to cliched storylines, sub-par writing, and, in the long run, a less discerning and demanding reading public.

Particularly during this modern trend of beginning stories in medias res (in the middle of things), a deep and full-bodied backstory is every whit as important as the story itself.

What your character does for a living, even if it doesn’t feature prominently in your story, will profoundly affect who he is and how he responds to the world around him.