Russell F. HirschOct 25, 20232 minDescriptive Language that SparklesKill your darlings! Get to the point! Plot over prose! How many times have you heard advice about simplifying your writing for middle...
Russell F. HirschOct 11, 20231 minSIWC - Simply Inspiring Writers' ConferenceWe all know the feeling of finding our tribe. Whether we were kids discovering new friends on the playground, teens navigating a new...
Russell F. HirschJun 17, 2018Graced with Epic-ness: Kristin Cashore’s Series StructureIn this post, I finish my examination of Kristin Cashore’s excellent Graceling Realms series. (Part one here!) The title of the post may...
Russell F. HirschAug 30, 2017Bull by David Elliot (Guest Review for The Book Wars)Sometimes, I have the privilege of writing guest book reviews for the incredible folks at The Book Wars. You can check out my review of...
Russell F. HirschDec 29, 2015The Hero’s Journey – RewardThe Hero’s Journey – Reward Well that last post on the Ordeal was so frightening, I almost couldn’t go on! But after a bit of a break,...
Russell F. HirschOct 3, 2015The Hero’s Journey – The ApproachWe really shouldn’t go in there—but we have to! We’re now well into the Middle Phase (Act 2) of a story. The characters have started to...