From Rick: It’s human nature to want to express and share our ideas and thoughts. Rather than regurgitate what others have written on the subject, here’s a short article that suggests how storytelling may have arisen in the first place.
Read MoreFrom 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 MoreFrom Rick: A couple of years back, Scott and I did a five-part series on Openings. If you want to read (or re-read) those, the OPENINGS category on the left side of the blog page will let you find them
Read MoreFrom Rick: Over the next several weeks (at least), I’m going to be doing a series on how to write a story from idea to finished product. Along the way, we will also have some guest blogs that tie in
Read Moreby 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 MoreFrom 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 MoreFrom 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 MoreFrom Rick: Of the two main points of view (POV) used in fiction, first person and third person, first person is the one most often poorly done among new writers. Before I justify that statement, for those of you still
Read MoreFrom 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 MoreFrom Rick: One problem writers often struggle with is how much information to divulge to the reader at various places in a story. I’m not referring only to descriptions, but also to story information. You don’t want to overload–or bore–the
Read More