Of course you can. You can write any kind of story and make it clean. Well, almost any kind. Definitely, sci-fi can be clean. I know because I've done it. Check out my sci-fi series, the Legends Trilogy, on Amazon and you’ll see how it’s done.
Category: Writing Fiction
Fine Wine and Writing
I’m no expert on wine, but of course you know that fine wine just gets better with age (kind of like me, as I like to remind everyone I know!) Nobody orders the freshest wine or the latest vintage, because it takes time for great wine to develop; It didn’t start great. It reminds me …
The Devil and Details
As you may have noticed, I love surfing for interesting tidbits to pass along. Today's is almost prescient so I had to mention it! Here it is, as I read it: Isn’t it weird that there is an old adage that says “The devil’s in the details” AND one that says “God is in the …
The Christmas House
When I hear the word 'parchment' I think of those very official scrolls containing royal pronouncements. You know, the kind that start with “Hear ye, hear ye” followed by all kinds of important announcements like: “The prince is throwing a ball!” So this seems like the time to announce that soon my next book will be …
What is some advice that you can give regarding plot development in writing?
1. Plot is story. So start with that. What story do you want to tell? Write it down in a sentence or two on a slip of paper. 2. All good stories have beginnings, middles and endings. Write down the beginning and the ending on separate slips of paper. Again, a sentence or two will …
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Do you practice daily writing exercises to keep your writing flow active?
Personally, no I don’t. I never have, figuring that my time is valuable (to me, anyway) and that I’d rather spend it doing something than practicing doing something. So I write and that in itself is an exercise in how to write. Sometimes what I write is deleted and that’s okay because few things in …
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I think I’ve almost finished writing a good novel, but I’ve lost focus and interest in finishing it — how can I best regain it?
The answer to this particular question is easy. I suspect I’m not the only writer out there who has learned the answer through experience. The answer is: Forget about it. Put is aside. Find a nice shelf and put the manuscript on it and cover it with a pile of other, more interesting, things until …
Do MFA programs make you a better writer?
Maybe. Maybe not. And before I go on, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I have a love-hate relationship with advanced degrees. I've loved some of my advanced classes and hated others. And I remember one time when the instructor went around the first day of class asking us what we …
Is it true that there’s little to no money in writing fiction?
Sadly, that’s true. I read somewhere that the average fiction author earns $5,000 a year from his/her writing. However, the e-market is changing everything, including the potential for making as much money as you are willing to work for. And I do mean work. Two kinds of work are involved and each is equally important …
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The first scene of my novel is a chase scene where two boys are being chased. But I haven’t revealed their names, so there’s a lot of “the first boy”, “the other boy”, “then the other boy” for 4 pages and it’s confusing . How can I fix this?
Reading this question, I had a couple thoughts. Questions. The answers to the questions indicate how to handle the scene. First, is it necessary to distinguish which boy is doing what? Does it matter or are you mainly trying to get across that two boys are being chased? If it doesn’t matter, then don’t worry …
