Summarizing who’s in your story, plus a single sentence that guides the story, and writing a synopsis, are golden nuggets to mine. When you share your work for editorial evaluation, these are the mile markers. The synopsis is the hardest. I had to do one for Sins of Freedom back when it was called Monsignor Dad. I […]

Theme is among the most mysterious and powerful elements of storytelling. In the classic pyramid of writing crafts from the Iowa Writer's Workshop, theme stands at the pinnacle. It's called symbol up there, and theme can be illustrated by symbolism. Think icons, as in physical items that recur through your book, such as candles in […]