Um, maybe it’s not a sabbatical anymore.

Emigre published, in 2005, my 35,000-word essay on graphic design.

My first novel was published twenty years ago in 2005.

I wrote and published a book of short stories in the year 2000.

I have written 50 entries on writing since 2022.

Some plot twists are conventional.

Here are four strategies for how to use ghosts.

The ghost haunts the hero’s judgment.

Theme is about what the character does, not what anyone says.

This is what the hell I am doing, editing my novels for a decade.

What the hell am I doing, editing my novels for a decade?

I have been editing nine novels for ten years. 

I wrote this one in a burst of inspiration.

Let’s talk about bad guys.

I’ve done what I said I was going to do.

The wrong task changes the right hero.

Mr. B. with Royce Carol and Joseph Carol

So, like, what is your hero actually doing?

Use beats to move your character through a task.