For many years I wrote about fiction, story, belief, ordinary life, and the questions that shaped my work. More than two thousand essays remain here—not because every one represents my current thinking, but because together they tell the story of a writer learning over time.
Search for a subject, browse by month and year, or begin with the most recent writing below.
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The archive begins with the most recent writing. Use the numbered pages below to move backward through time.
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The Story Desk Is Moving
I will no longer be publishing new work at Notes from the Story Desk. My writing continues at The Pencil-Driven Life, where I am bringing together my novels,…
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The Story Beneath the Story
People sometimes ask why I keep returning to Boaz. After all, there are countless small towns across America. Why this one? The easy answer is that Boaz is…
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The Character Who Wants Nothing Is Difficult to Follow
One of the most common problems in a beginning novel has nothing to do with grammar, dialogue, or point of view. The problem is often simpler than that:…
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The Pressure of Secrets in the Boaz Novels
If you want to understand the Boaz novels, pay attention to what people do with secrets. Not only the secrets themselves. What matters most is the pressure they…
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Why Outside Eyes Can See the Missing Story Pressure
A novelist can be too close to the story to see what is missing. That is not a weakness. It is part of the work. When you have…
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When an Earlier Novel Still Has a Pulse
I have been rereading some of my earlier Boaz novels. That is not as simple as it sounds. A reader can open a novel and enter the story.…
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The Scene Question That Keeps a Chapter from Wandering
A chapter can contain good writing and still wander. That is hard for a beginning novelist to see. The sentences may be clean. The setting may be vivid.…
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The Letter in the Safe
In The Boaz Safecracker, a man opens an old safe and finds more than coins and jewelry. That is the moment that still interests me. The safe itself…
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What to Do When Your Novel Still Feels Too Big
A novel can feel too big before you write it. It can also feel too big after you have written part of it. That may be even more…
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Rereading The Boaz Safecracker: When Fiction Opens an Old Door
A few nights ago, I started rereading The Boaz Safecracker. I did not begin with a formal plan. I was not preparing a lecture on the Boaz novels.…
Richard L. Fricks 