It seems like a simple question, but it’s not as easy to answer as you might think. Take out one of your WIPs and look at the first page. What do you see? Is it a heavy description of the setting? Is it a flashback or a wordy telling of the back-story? Is it an […]
Five Links Friday 6/19/15
It’s Five Links Friday and looking to be a great weekend. Here’s some stuff to read… 1. Is there a Grand Conspiracy Against Publishing Your Book? According to Iain S. Thomas, there might be. Click on the article and find out. 2. Derek Haines in his latest post asks a question all self-published (and most […]
Five Links Friday 5/15/15
It’s a rainy Friday afternoon in this part of the states. So if you’re stuck spending the weekend indoors hiding from the rain, you might as well write. And read. In fact, why not read these Five Links? 1. From Kristen Lamb’s blog, here is a post looking at the Anatomy of a Best-Selling Story—Opposition. […]
Lay off the back-story and get to the action!
Start your story where your story starts. You’re saying, well, duh. But it’s not as simple as it sounds. I want to talk real quick about one of my earlier versions of Holy Fudgesicles. This actually dates back to last year when I was preparing to attend the RMFW Conference. I first noticed a potential […]
Never Lie to the Reader
There are so many “rules” we need to follow as writers. Don’t write in the second person. Don’t open with a dream sequence. Don’t use too many flashbacks. Don’t use too many adjectives. Don’t use any adverbs. You get the point. But there is one rule of writing fiction that isn’t brought up very often, […]
But who the heck cares?
Any of us who can still remember elementary school are familiar with the questions of description: “Who? What? When? Where? Why? (and sometimes How?)” As writers, we pretty much ask ourselves most, if not all, of these questions whenever we create a new story or setting. And that’s all great, but there is another question […]
Self-critique of my first page
I opened up the first draft of a novel that has been sitting on my computer untouched for the last couple of years and started looking it over. The good news is that is a good story. It’s a fun read and I’m looking forward to start working on it again. I’m hoping to have […]
Five Links Friday 2/20/15
Wow, crazy busy week. Hope yours was a good one. Here is your reading assignment for the weekend. 1. From K.M. Weiland’s awesome blog, here is a post about your novel’s beginning: Think You Wrote a Great Hook for Your Book’s Beginning? Find Out Why It May Not Be Enough 2. Of course writing the book isn’t […]