Editing your work the right way
From Rick: There is no such thing as the perfect editor or the perfect way to edit your work. I freely admit that I do slip up despite my best efforts and intentions. Even good editors can slip up. This
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Analyzing your story, Part-4: Keeping your story moving
From Rick: So far in this series, I’ve dealt with three aspects: (1) your story’s purpose in terms of what you want to convey to your reader (2) keeping the reader with you in terms of understanding the characters’ motives
Read moreThe writer’s responsibilities to inform readers
From Rick: I apologize for not having posted here for two weeks. Last Monday my computer blew out its power supply. No files were lost, but I wasn’t able to access the post for last week in time. All is
Read moreStory flaws: Finding and fixing them—PART 1
From Rick: What’s wrong with your story? Why are magazine editors rejecting your short stories? Are your novels getting mixed reviews (or no reviews)? In a series of two posts I’m going to offer some suggestions for things you can
Read moreUsing scene breaks properly
From Rick: From time to time I receive questions about scenes and scene breaks. We’ve all heard the term “scene” used, but we don’t often hear it defined. Here’s one concise definition I found online: “A scene is a section
Read moreCharacter descriptions: avoid a description shopping list
From Rick: How often in novels have you read descriptions like the following? (1) Nancy hung her jacket and hat in the closet across from the front door, and placed her black, knitted gloves inside the pocket. She sat on
Read moreProper use and overuse of “had” in writing
From Rick: Recently, a member of my local writers group mentioned having seen several articles that “had” was one of those words writers should avoid using. That got my attention. In my thirty-some years of writing experience, I have never
Read moreTips for writing realistic dialogue
From Rick: Why is dialog important? In the past I’ve done several posts on dialogue, and you can find them under DIALOGUE in the categories list. There are five narrative modes in fiction (Description, Exposition, Dialogue, Thoughts, Action), and of
Read moreStory structure models–PART 3
From Rick: Last year I did two posts on story structures and had thought them to be relatively complete. However, I was recently contacted regarding the first of those two posts. The person who contacted me praised the post and
Read moreA balancing act: keeping the reader informed and interested
From Rick: Consider the following story opening: ========== TWO DAYS AGO: Tonight he’d do it. Severin had watched the place every night for the past week. His long, dark hair gelled back, his face black-smudged, and wearing black slacks and
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