I love the tone of this, the beauty in the sentences, the realism, the humour. Good reading to start the day.

To a Young Writer – Wallace Stegner – The Atlantic.

Author and illustrator David Ezra Stein… | Looking for the Best? Look for the Bear!.

I love David Ezra Stein and his work! This weekend is all about picture books for me, probably because me and the babies are reading them lots this morning!

It is essential to have tension in your writing. It is all very pleasant when everyone sits around enjoying a nice conversation, but it makes for dull reading. Especially if that’s all anybody does. This week I want you to ramp up the tension between two characters, thinking about how to make your dialogue sizzle on the page as your characters disagree with and surprise each other, revealing secrets, desires and passions.

Using less that 500 words write a scene with two characters who haven’t seen each other for a number of years. What does each character want? Why haven’t they seen each other for so long? Can you convey this while maintaining tension?

Post your responses here at the Weekly Workshop Series Discussion Thread! I’ll read and give feedback as often as I can.