Alastair Luft is an Ottawa based writer, whose two books—Jihadi Bride and The Battle Within—have both received a lot of praise. He’s also a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, and someone who took up writing in earnest later in life. Although I don’t know him personally, I know him through others, and wanted to find out … Continue reading An Interview with Alastair Luft
An Interview with C.S. O’Cinneide
There are a number of new Canadian writers who I’ve had the chance to meet in the past few years as my own debut novel came out. C.S. O’Cinneide is someone who stands out, though, because of the interesting breadth of the writing that she is doing. She’s not willing to be pigeonholed in any … Continue reading An Interview with C.S. O’Cinneide
War is not a genre
I’ve previously written about how the demands of the algorithms that drive online marketing have created more genres than ever (over 13000 distinct genres on Amazon!). But even before this proliferation of categories within literature, some commonly accepted genres were problematic. The “war” genre is one of these. The modern “war novel” as a genre … Continue reading War is not a genre
Discover how to boost your creative brain with meditation and mindfulness
Proving what many creatives have known intuitively for years, studies show that mindfulness and meditation both have a positive effect on our creativity. Whether you want to discover, improve or maintain that creative flow, there are a number of meditation and mindfulness practices that you can use. Creativity on Demand Many people think of creative … Continue reading Discover how to boost your creative brain with meditation and mindfulness
A Method for Crafting Conflict between your Characters
Conflict is an essential element to stories, though even in an action movie it gets boring if it is always physical, or between the protagonist and antagonist. Conflict between all of the characters, even if relatively mild, propels your story along and allows you to maintain an essential level of tension. Here is a trick … Continue reading A Method for Crafting Conflict between your Characters
How to Outline a Story with Index Cards
I began writing seriously with screenplays, and learned about using index cards to outline a story from my writing partner. Screenwriters have been using them for years, but I use them whenever I am writing a story that is too long or complex for the outline to easily fit on a page. They’re also particularly … Continue reading How to Outline a Story with Index Cards