We really love to write. We’ve spent decades learning the craft. If we didn’t pass on what we know to other writers, we’d feel almost like we’d wasted all those years.

Writing isn’t just about scribbling something down on paper. There’s a lot of technique to the art, a lot of know-how, and most of that can usually only be gained by experience. Pure and simple, doing it until you figure it out. We had to learn to write that way, but we don’t want others to have to reinvent the wheel.

We’ve spent weeks compiling everything we know about writing, and we’ve written articles about everything from how to write the perfect romance, to making an ideal Villain, to what NOT to name your Main Character.

Each of the links in this list will take you to a different article; enjoy!

Lesson One: Be Yourself — Who you are and what you believe, your moral ideals and your spiritual strengths will come out in your writing.

Lesson Two: Writing For The Market — The truth is, if you write what you are passionate about and what you truly love, that will become what the Market wants. But to get your book to the point where its marketable, especially if it is unique, you have to use some proven business strategies and use your head.

Lesson Three: Don’t Preach — Art is not a soap box (as in: to stand on top of and preach). If you spend your book using your character to preach your ideal of utopia, most of your readers will feel ill to the stomach. Stick to reality even when reality is ugly.

Lesson Four: You Need A Plot — Creating a plot can be summed up in five basics steps; creating the setting, establishing the society, identifying the problem, making the villain, and lastly, choosing the hero. (Note: making the hero is LAST, not first!)

Lesson Five: There Are Consequences — Remember, you might be able to justify your Hero’s actions, but that doesn't mean the whole world is going to understand! It is very likely that if your Hero performs a number of criminal activities such as armed assault, vehicle theft, etc., he will finish the book after his great victory by serving jail time.

Lesson Six: Keep Notes! — Don't ignore this one!! It's more important than you think! The more detailed the better, and ALWAYS have them on hand! Lack of basic organization can RUIN your credibility as a storyteller!

Lesson Seven: General Writing Tips — Maintain your reader’s credulity, and don’t do ridiculous and bizarre things with your plot that kill any credibility your plot had going. A collection of tips.

Lesson Eight: Clichés To Avoid — There are some clichés that readers are absolutely sick of. A discussion of over-used clichés in the Fiction genre, and why they should be avoided (if possible).

Lesson Nine: How To Name Your Characters — Some tips for how to come up with good, believable, and even kind of cool names for characters.

Lesson Ten: How To Write A Villain (And yes, you do need a Villain.) — Types of Villains will determine your type of plot. If you don’t understand evil, you won’t be able to write a proper plot. (One of my favorite articles.)

Lesson Eleven: Never Write A “Me” Character! — Most new writers make the mistake of writing what I call a “Me Character” as their first Hero. This character will be totally unrealistic, and drive your readers crazy. (My other favorite article.)

Lesson Twelve: The Hero Is Not Always Right — Let your characters make mistakes! Let them be human! If they get stuck up and wrong-headed about something, let them realize they were wrong, and apologize! Imagine, a Hero who actually has to apologize halfway through the story and CHANGE. (My MOST favorite article.)

Lesson Thirteen: How To Make A Character — Your supporting characters shouldn’t just be decoration, they should have an actual purpose in the story and be integral to the plot. A must-read if you have difficulty making fresh and diverse, unique characters!

Lesson Fourteen: The Romance Engine — There is a trick to making a believable, hot, passionate, full-of-juice romance in your stories. And the trick is this: you have to let the characters themselves fall in love. This method works for me, every time.

Lesson Fifteen: Editing — When you have gotten done with your book, and you think back on it, there are going to be parts you just don’t remember. They didn’t stick in your head, and were not memorable. CUT THEM OUT.

Random Character Roll Tables — This is so cheating. If you use these random roll tables, you are guaranteed to have really INTERESTING characters. Yes, these are the real ones I use all the time in my stories. Use with caution.