Avoiding info dumps
From Rick: This week I figured I’d change things up a bit and get away from the doom and gloom about publishing challenges, although I don’t think those challenges will be going away anytime soon. The best advice I can
Read morestory hook
It’s all in the details
GUEST POST BY KELLEE KRANENDONK From Kellee: Sometimes minor details are just that. But sometimes little things have a way of becoming big things. So how do you know what details to include in your story and what to omit?
Read morePacing your story
From Rick: Someone recently asked the question: How does one get and hold a reader’s interest? This is a difficult to answer because not only are different readers interested in different things, but a given reader rarely has a single
Read moreA guide to writing short stories and fighting dragons
by Brandon M Johnson From Rick: This week’s delightful and advice-filled blog post was originally submitted as an article on writing to Silver Blade magazine. Unfortunately, that magazine recently changed its editorial polices and no longer accepts such articles. However,
Read moreFlashbacks–Think twice before you dwell on the past
From Rick: Among the several sins that many new writers commit, premature flashbacks is often one of them. Two other big sins are launching into backstory too soon after the opening (or in the opening), and the use of a
Read moreStory Openings–Part 5: Promises to your reader
From Rick: A few blogs back (6/4/2012–“Your Cast of Characters”) I made reference to an article by David Farland and mentioned a point of disagreement I had with some of his points. This time, I’m going to refer to another
Read moreNovel writing for beginners–Part 2
From Rick: Last time, I ended with the importance of characters. They are the backbone of fiction. Stories don’t exist in a vacuum. They must happen to someone, and that someone must care about the outcome. If nobody cares that
Read moreStory Openings–Part 4: Case Studies
From Scott: We’ve had a few blog entries (including our excellent guest blogger, Robert Vardeman) about what a strong opening needs to have to capture the reader’s attention. Character. Setting. Conflict. Hook. Put all four of them in the opening
Read moreStory Openings–Part 3: Voice
From Rick: The last installment left off with the opening from Charles Dickens’ “Bleak House.” This is arguably one of the best openings in literature because it includes all of the elements of a great opening: character, setting, conflict, and
Read moreStory Openings–Part 2: Hooks
From Rick: Welcome to Part 2 of our series on Openings. I trust that in the past couple of weeks you’ve had a chance to look over and analyze the samples presented. The first thing you should have done is
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