From Rick: One of the challenges writers face can be making up fictional identifiers. We rarely have problems with inventing character names. For place names, we have to exercise some caution to avoid potentially disparaging references. If a character stops
Read moreFrom Rick: This time I’m going to wrap up my advice on analyzing your story. I certainly haven’t covered everything, but I have tried to cover most of the essentials for ensuring your story has the right impact on your
Read moreFrom Rick: This week’s post is going to be relatively short because it’s designed to make you think about your story, ask questions about it, and to help you analyze it for effectiveness. Keep in mind that because each story
Read moreFrom Rick: Do you interrupt your story with description? Scott and I have dealt with the topic of description several times in 2015 and more recently in Part of this two-part series back in September 2018. Click on DESCRIPTION in
Read moreFrom Rick: From time to time the question arises from writers about how much detail and description to add to a story and how and when to insert it. This important topic is going to take at least two posts
Read moreFrom Rick: When it comes to writing, there are two basic approaches one can take: outlining, and writing by the seat of your pants, often called “pantsing.” I’ve written both ways, and I have known other writers who have done
Read moreFrom Scott: Last time, I talked in general terms about some of the perils and pitfalls of writing a good action scene. But I also promised you that I would go into greater detail. How would your character react in
Read moreFrom Scott: Action scenes are very common in novels. Obviously, this can include fight scenes ranging from hand-to-hand fighting to group combat. In books with a contemporary setting, car chases are common. A skillfully written scene where the author has
Read moreFrom Rick: Previously I talked about what readers look for in terms of the writing style: clean and follows good writing conventions, or if it’s unconventional, it’s not so difficult to read that the reader becomes frustrated and puts it
Read moreRick: You’ve decided to write a novel. Maybe you’ve always wanted to write the novel that been inside you for a long time. You think that it can’t be all that hard—a little scary maybe, but not impossible, because lots
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