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On the Joys of Being Wrong
I literally just bought this computer a month ago, so it’s very important that I not punch the screen. I’ve had to remind myself of this a few times today, because I got about halfway through my latest...
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Perfect Pacing
Whether we’re reading a book or watching a movie, the speed at which a story moves is very important to us. A story that crawls along is not likely to be interesting enough to hold our interest, while...
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Getting in the Write Place
When I was younger, I could and would write anywhere – much to the chagrin of my schoolteachers and well-meaning relatives. As long as I had my notebook and a working pen, I found that I could drown...
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Making Sure Your Writing Has a Job to Do
Now and then, I come across a scene in my writing that I desperately want to like. It might be beautifully written, or it might contain some interesting details, or it might contain a charming minor...
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Showing vs. Telling: A Cognitive Approach
My mother says that I talk in riddles, and she’s more correct than I like to admit most of the time. I do have a tendency to state the facts that lead to what I’m trying to say, and then leave off the...
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Following Your Bliss at the Expense of Your Beginning
Many of us expect the storycrafting process to follow the flow of the story. You write the beginning first, the middle after that, and then conclude once you’ve gotten to the climax of the action....
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Avoiding the Dreaded Comma Splice
The comma represents no sound, but we pronounce it anyway when we read a sentence in English. A comma is a signal that we need to regard a word as a sort of ending point. Used properly, commas enhance...
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The Art of Summarizing
“Summary sucks, please read” is one of the great proverbs of amateur fiction writers. Go ahead, type it into Google and count the search results. Fanfiction, original fiction, and even poetry is...
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2XTreme4Dialect: Using Slang in Prose
Most writers learn quickly that when we refer to the English language, we’re really talking about a group of micro-languages, or dialects, which are so similar that a speaker of one can easily...
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Epistolary Storytelling
Most writers eventually find themselves writing about some kind of text. A lover might leave a note that changes the course of a novel, or a character may complain about a major plot event in his...
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