From Micro-fiction to Novels, How Long Is Each Type of Story? Last week we celebrated the short story, a work of fiction between 1,000 and 7,000 words. But what about shorter and longer works? Let’s start by looking at the types of fiction. Types of Fiction At the shorter end of the spectrum is flash […]
Does using a story device guide our work or hamper our creativity? In many books and most movies, something will happen about three-fourths of the way through. With the desired goal within reach, a roadblock pops up to thwart our protagonist’s progress. While this is sometimes an ingenious plot twist, too often the problem seems […]
Write short stories to master the art of fiction writing May is short story month. I share this news in advance so you can consider how you want to celebrate. You might want to spend the month reading short stories or perhaps focus on writing a few. But regardless, give short stories some consideration in […]
How to Identify Speakers in Dialogue Here are some options to identify speakers in dialogue. 1. Tag your dialogue with any descriptive word other than said, such as exclaimed, interjected, sputtered, yelled, and so forth. I learned this in Middle School and followed it for many years. Now the recommendation is to avoid doing this, […]
To write a novel, first, start with short stories. Many of the elements required for short stories carry over to longer works. In addition, it’s better to experiment on a 1,000-word short story than an 80,000-word novel. Once you’re comfortable with short stories then you can move on to longer works. Short Story Tips Writing […]
Though using a pattern to inform our books’ structure has merit, it may lead us to a troublesome end There are multiple guides we can follow to properly structure the books we write. Perhaps the most common is the three-act structure, but there are many others as well. There’s enough to make me dizzy, so […]
Before writing a book we need to train I dislike the phrase aspiring writer. Either we aspire to write or we actually do it. Being an aspiring writer is no more than hoping for a future outcome, one that will never happen because the aspiring writer spends all his or her time dreaming and no […]
The easiest way to build your author brand is to consistently publish the same type of content I remember when I started taking writing seriously. I moved from simply writing to being a writer. The shift was huge. I had so much to learn about the industry (and I still do). Of the many surprises, […]
What writers can learn from the life and career of Carrie Fisher On December 26, 2016, my wife and I went to see the movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The next morning I learned that Carrie Fisher had died. Like most people, I knew her for her iconic performance as Princess Leia in […]
The journey of writing a novel in one month has much to teach about being a writer Many times in this blog, I’ve talked about NaNoWriMo—the effort to write the first 50,000 words of a novel in the month of November. I also announced in October that this was the year I would actually participate. […]