FictionAbout 47,000 objects are tracked in Earth orbit, and models put the untracked debris in the hundreds of millions. Kessler syndrome is the chain reaction that could make some orbits unusable, and a war would set it off. It's the…
FictionMost plot holes in a novel are character holes: someone does something only because the author needed them to. Here's how I check finished drafts, using the methods from my Plot Handbook with AI as the checker, not the writer.
FictionPlot armor is the invisible rig that keeps a protagonist alive, lucky and competent because the story needs them. Here are the four kinds readers spot, from wounds that don't count to choices that never cost anything, and how to…
FictionNovelists joke that their characters took over the plot, and the joke is accurate. A character who rejects a planned scene is telling you the outline was written before you knew her.
WritingA chapter is as long as one complete thought, and a thousand words is plenty when the thought is finished. Keep with next and real heading styles stop a manuscript from fighting you through every revision.
WritingI write books for a living, and I haven't finished reading one in about five years. The shelf behind me on video calls is set dressing, and the reading I do now comes in pieces, a chapter at a time,…
Personal GrowthOld work makes you cringe because your judgment kept improving after the work stopped. I deleted almost 200 web pages of LinkedIn branding articles, and an early book I ghostwrote makes me wince, and both taught me what to keep…
Artificial IntelligenceWriting with AI isn't theft. The legal fight is over how AI companies trained their models, and those suits target the companies. Calling an individual writer a thief for using a tool is a rotten thing to do.
Artificial Intelligence"It's not X, it's Y" is now one of the best-known signs of AI writing. Shakespeare, Lombardi and a pizza ad used it first. Why chatbots lean on it, how common it's become, and why a sentence shape is no…
FictionA good plot twist is a surprise the reader could have seen coming and didn't. How to plant small hints, misdirect, avoid the twists that fail, and test yours with beta readers.
WritingA writing buddy can be the difference between a finished draft and another abandoned one. Why it never worked for me as an introvert, how to find a good one, and the rules that make it work.
FictionCan a vampire show up on thermal imaging, use a smartphone or trigger an automatic sink? How to build vampire rules from an origin, with lessons from Dracula 2000 and Blade.
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