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 […]
Is Your Story Too Boring?
A big warning sign that your story needs some more work is if the mere thought of reading it, let alone working it, cures your insomnia or bores you to tears. The problem here is pretty obvious. If you can’t bare the thought of sitting through a story your wrote, what makes you think a […]
The Greatest Character Flaw
People like a character they can relate to. And nobody can related to the kid who has the most toys, the best GPA, and is good at everything on the first try. If you want your audience to relate to your protagonist, it almost goes without saying that the character needs to be flawed in […]
Stereotypes in Fantasy
I mentioned on my author site that I’m going to take a break from revising my second novel and work on some other projects instead. That books is a fantasy young adult novel and while it’s a lot of fun, it’s also got some problems that I pretty much just lost patience with. While those […]
A Different Kind of Writer: My Tribute to “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes
I’ve never been ashamed to admit that I’m a wrestling fan. It’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and even though I don’t pay so much attention to the current product, I’ll defend it as one of the purest forms of entertainment ever created. Today the world of […]
Five Links Friday 6/5/15
It’s time again for Five Link Friday. Some of the best writing articles I read this week. Give ’em a read. 1. The first one is for the fantasy writers out there. Check out High Fantasy Friday – Magic at Sandra Harvey’s site for a look at writing magic in your fantasy world. 2. Here […]
10 Common Writing Mistakes to Avoid
In a previous post looking back at the first year of my ezine, Theme of Absence, I mentioned that I could often find writing mistakes in other authors’ submissions that I miss in mine own writing. I didn’t elaborate on those mistakes at the time, but it got me thinking about some of the common […]
Five Links Friday 5/22/15
Hey, it’s time again for Five Links Friday. Here are some good writing links. Check ’em out and have a nice Friday afternoon, even if you’re stuck in the rain. 1. From Kristen A Kieffer’s She’s Novel blog, here is How to Create Character Motivations That Will Rivet Your Readers. Sometimes I have trouble with […]