How Big a Hammer? & 4 other tips on Emotion and Theme (Writer Bites: Brief essays on the heart and craft of writing fiction)

Beating the Evil TV reveals the one advantage writers have over all other storytelling mediums--and why you must exploit it.

Setup and Payoff explains how your buildup of a story situation creates its ultimate impact on the reader.

Playing for Higher Stakes discusses why simply raising the body count doesn't make the outcome matter more. (This only applies to fiction, by the way--not real life!)

How Big a Hammer deals with theme: why it matters, and whether to go in hard of soft when you're pounding home your message.

And in TV or not TV isn't the Question I talk about why writers shouldn't care what kids do with the time they don't spend reading.