5 Reasons Why Breaking Bad is Macbeth

Breaking Bad is now in its final death throes, and we will soon all see what happens to Walter White and the rest of his crew, not to mention his tortured family.  Most well written stories reference great literature, but Vince Gilligan has indeed made some obvious references from Shakespeare that are evident throughout the

NaNoWriMo Tip #17: Action In the Dialogue

Every year I teach Shakespeare, one student invariably asks the following question:  Why does Shakespeare not write stage directions in his plays?  The answer to this question is always the same: If you will examine his dialogue, you will find that he does. For example, in Hamlet Act 1.1 we have this exchange: BERNARDO: Who’s

The Sagging Mid-Section: Is Your Novel a Swamp In the Middle?

One problem that amateur novelists face is what I call the sagging mid-section.  They might have three to five chapters at the beginning that do everything that yesterday’s post mention, and the ending of their novel is fantastic and wonderful, full of interesting plot twists, but the middle of the novel bogs down in a

How to Write Descriptively With Metaphors

Metaphors are one of the most used literary devices in the English language second only to similes. The problem with using similes is that they often cause your writing to become a mine field of quantifiers. (i.e. His breath was like the foul smell of a garbage heap and his face was like a pock

Juxtaposition: Creating a Foil for Your Heroes

Juxtaposition is defined as an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.  Juxtaposed characters are not seen very much in short fiction, but if you are writing a novel you will want to strategically design characters who are foils for your heroes to shine a light on the traits of those heroes. One of the best examples of the use of this