Writers’ Craft 4: Character Development

An essential skill One of the most powerful and essential skills in your writing arsenal is the ability to develop and write believable characters who step off the page into the minds of your readers. But it would seem it’s also one of the hardest skills to effectively master. Do it well, and you haunt the thoughts of your readers. Do it wrong, and your reader closes the novel, likely never to return either to…

Writers’ Craft 3: Outlining

Technical issues I was going to make this entire Writers’ Craft series as vlogs. However, I have a problem with my ISP, in that they have not upgraded the lines in our wee village, and so uploading to YouTube is problematic. The first two videos required an overnight upload, with nothing else eating up broadband. The third one has been a bust, I’m afraid. I’ve tried four times now. The first three attempts resulted in…

Walking into a new life

This past week has been one of turmoil, not all of it good. I find myself at a place on the map marked: here there be dragons. I feel unhinged, displaced. I feel astonished, humbled. I find myself staring into the distance and wondering how I arrived here. Life is a journey. Yes. It is. And sometimes it’s bewildering, sometimes exciting, sometimes all those things. So much of my life these past 12 years has been about…

Joe Mahoney and Saturday Night Scribes

Joe Mahoney, author of the forthcoming novel, A Time and a Place, recently interviewed the members of his writers’ group (which includes Tanah Haney), the Saturday Night Scribes, about why they meet, the creative process, and the benefits of feedback. Joe and crew graciously agreed to allow Five Rivers to share that video.