Lessons from His Greatness, The Gatsby

Careers have been built on mining the depths of The Great Gatsby, that most iconic of American novels. I recently read it for the third time to see what I could learn about the craft of writing. I decided to stay close … Continue reading

Jack Reacher Outsmarted

Andy Martin’s deconstruction of Lee Child’s twentieth, and hopefully last, Jack Reacher novel, Make Me, is at first glance an exercise in flamboyant grandstanding pretending to be hagiography.   At least 80% of the book is filled with tangents not … Continue reading

Being Your Resume

The Orphan Master’s Son is a grim book with a high gross-out factor, so if you don’t tolerate torture and gore well, it wouldn’t be for you. But if you enjoy the creativity of trying to depict sheer horror, it’s … Continue reading

The Psychology of Narration

About a year ago I converted a novel-length manuscript from first-person narration to third person. It was almost impossible to do it without error.  I read through the converted manuscript three times and every time I would find multiple instances … Continue reading