“ Honesty makes stories real and characters memorable. From there, taking them to where they need to go will be all the development they need. Dan Alatorre
“ I usually end have one outrageous minor character. He or she says the stuff I wish I had said in real life. Readers will love that character. Dan Alatorre
“ People are suckers for the truth and they know it when they see it. Open your soul and they will stop and watch. Dan Alatorre
“ Open your soul and put it out there and dare the world to read it, ready to have them stomp on you and laugh, but ready to do it again the next day. Dan Alatorre
“ Writers need to be open to trying new things. My first bestseller was a cookbook, and from that experience I learned things about marketing a book that benefitted me greatly. Dan Alatorre
“ My characters still talk the way normal people talk. They argue, they are sarcastic with each other, they joke around. I usually end up with one outrageous minor character in each book that people jus… Dan Alatorre
“ Believe in yourself and start achieving your dream. It waits for you on the other side of the publish button. Dan Alatorre
“ Don't have every dialog go in a straight line to solve the problem. Let your characters argue, be sarcastic, disagree or joke around. Dan Alatorre
“ Writers get ideas all day every day. The FedEx guy delivers a package from Sears and the writer is thinking how it could actually be a ticking time bomb. Dan Alatorre
“ Kids are flat-out freaking hilarious if you are paying attention. Not just my kid, but every kid. Dan Alatorre
“ Dig deep and go where the pain and fear and joy are, and put it out there. The minute you shy away from pure honesty in your writing, you become a liar. Dan Alatorre
“ On working with other writers: You develop honesty and you can then ask the really embarrassing questions. I have learned so many things I didn’t want to know, and they were all a result of interestin… Dan Alatorre
“ Don’t polish it forever, put it out there. At some point the changes aren’t improvements, they’re just changes. Dan Alatorre
“ In the book (Savvy Stories) you see some very real, very personal moments. The first week of Savvy’s life was the longest week of ours. We spent five days in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) wo… Dan Alatorre
“ You need an interesting voice. A grabber opening is great, compelling characters are awesome, but the voice – your unique voice – is what carries your story. Find your voice. Own your voice. Learn to… Dan Alatorre
“ Here’s my advice: you hold in your heart everything you need to know to write anything your story needs written. Dig deep and go where the pain and fear and joy are, and put it out there. The minute y… Dan Alatorre
“ Don’t listen to any advice from anybody who has fewer published bestsellers than you, or anybody with more bestsellers than you. Or anybody with the exact same number of bestsellers as you. Don’t list… Dan Alatorre
“ What I can tell you is DO IT. Publish book one and get book two out as soon as possible. There are very few Harper Lee’s. Most of us are going to have to write a few books to get good at it. Dan Alatorre
“ The more time you can put between you and your manuscript, the more fresh your eyes become and the more mistakes you’ll catch. Dan Alatorre
“ Not knowing stuff - like how your story ends before you start writing - is the seed of a lot of writer’s block. Dan Alatorre
