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Steven Barnes's Articles in Book Writing Show All|Display Category|Title|Newest|Oldest Forget About "Talent"! How is a writer to access her deepest and most powerful wells of creativity? How do we tap into our talent, our genius, our greatest potential for success? Writing classes often tell us how to plot, or structure, or build characters, or create poetic images, but the question of accessing our excellence is a slippery and elusive one. It is possible we’ll need to go outside our usual sources to find an answer. Many will merely say “be born with talent,” coldly suggesting tha... The Three "Questions" Of Science Fiction There is a great deal of misunderstanding about what that particular branch of literature called “Science Fiction” actually consists of. Is it space-ships and monsters? Time machines? Galactic empires? Well, its all of those things, and often none of them. Science Fiction, broadly speaking, is story-telling that deals with the impact of organized knowledge on human beings. Usually, this means technology, and the way it changes us—and reveals about us. After all, most techn... It Was Good Enough For Shakespeare! One of the core conflicts for creative artists of all kinds is the tug-of-war between art and commerce. Frankly, an artist needs to make money, and it is preferable to make it from his craft. A writer who must work a full-time job to support himself will struggle to find the time to work, and often eventually gives it up altogether. On the other hand, being able to write on any project at all can polish valuable skills, and teach one the rules of the publishing industry. ... The Lazy Man's Guide To Great Characterization One subject arising whenever writers gather to discuss their craft is the mining of life itself for story material. While a vital and important technique, it is important to remember that real human beings are impossibly complex, far too complicated to serve as story characters without major modification. The most complex character in all of western fiction (arguably), Hamlet, is still only 1% as complex as a real human being. One must remember that there is a unity betwe... Four Useful Lies About Writing Most writing “experts” favor a particular way of looking at plot, and will adhere to it for years or an entire career. That’s all well and good, but its important to realize that any way of modeling story is just that—a model, not the depths and living essence of story itself. Problems arise when young (or experienced!) writers mistake a simplified structure for some deep and eternal truth. It’s much better to examine several structures, see what their strengths and weakne... Writing Twenty Novels (In Ten Easy Steps!) During a recent telephone conversation, I mentioned having sent off the last revisions for my twentieth novel, “Great Sky Woman.” There was a silence on the other side of the phone, followed by the question “How in the world do you do that? Twenty novels!” The truth is that I know many writers who have written far more than twenty novels. It is not that unusual. In fact, if you are a working writer, the “perfect” output is very close to a book a year. Less often than this,... The Billionaire Writer's Secret During a career spanning twenty-five years of novel, film, and television work, I've two major tools most valuable: the yogic “chakras” for characterization, and Joseph Campbell’s model of the Hero’s Journey for plot structure. These are not random choices, nor were they selected because of the many intelligent and thoughtful essays on their relationship to successful film or world myth. Rather, they are important because they create a connection between the inner world... Turn Writer's Blocks Into Stepping Stones! Years ago at a presentation at the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, I promised an audience to teach them to conquer this beast once and for all. Later, another instructor approached me and said “why did you say that to those people? It’s not possible.” Poor woman. All she was saying is that SHE cannot break writer’s block, which told me all I need to know about her career. In all likelihood a promising beginning, perhaps an award-winning poem or book…and then pain. It... Seven Ways To Connect Your Writing And Your Life An important question for any artist is: How can I built a career and simultaneously be true to myself? It’s an important question, and during the twenty years I’ve taught writing, hundreds of students have expressed the belief that success and personal integrity are mutually exclusive. The Lifewriting™ approach to fiction suggests that not only do these two qualities overlap, but that the safest, surest, most satisfying path to discovering your true voice, your deepest cr...	Authors Sign Up for a free account. Submit your articles. Publishers Category RSS feeds. Resources Accredited Home Schools Article Directory More Resources

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