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 First Draft Is Not a Verdict
Many beginning novelists are afraid of the first draft because they misunderstand what it is. They think the first draft will tell them whether they are a real…
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Small Towns Remember What They Pretend to Forget
One of the reasons I keep returning to Boaz in fiction is that small towns have long memories. Not perfect memories. Not always honest memories. Not even memories…
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What Story Coaching Is — and Is Not
A beginning novelist can get lost in several different ways. Some get lost before they begin. They have wanted to write a novel for years, but they are…
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Rereading The Boaz Secrets
The last few nights, I have been rereading The Boaz Secrets, one of my earlier Boaz novels. I did not pick it up as a critic. I did…
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You Do Not Need a Perfect Idea to Begin
Many people who want to write a novel never begin because they are waiting for the idea to become clear enough. They think they need the whole story…
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Why Scenes Need Consequences
Every scene in a novel should leave something changed. That does not mean every scene needs a car chase, a confession, a murder, or a dramatic reversal. Some…
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Simplify on Purpose: Where We Actually Live
Lately, I have noticed something simple and surprising. My mind is clearer. Not perfect. Not empty. Not magically serene. But clearer. There are fewer thoughts racing through it.…
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The Self Sam Harris Couldn’t Make Disappear
This morning, I quit a meditation before the timer expired. That is not unusual. I have done it before. But today felt different. Today it did not feel…
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The Self in the Dental Chair – Why I Am Not Trying to Disappear
Yesterday morning, I spent about three hours in Dr. Wallace’s dental chair. The original plan, at least as I understood it, was for her to place a crown…
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The Map on the Wall — and What Steve Marshall Revealed Next
In my last post, I wrote about the flyer I saw on the door at Sand Mountain Family Practice Center — a flyer promoting a Steve Marshall rally.…
Richard L. Fricks 