The worst fiction writing advice I’ve ever heard —- and the best fiction writing advice I’ve ever heard — is to write about what you love. It’s very easy to get so caught up in the enjoyment of writing about something you love that you can go on forever and bore your reader to death.… Continue reading What is the worst fiction writing advice you’ve heard?
Category: Writing Fiction
Is it possible to write a novel or short story that doesn’t perpetuate stereotypes?
It’s not a matter of stereotypes. It’s a matter of whether the characters are described well or not so well. Good writing will turn them into archetypes and become the best and most representative of the group they belong to, whatever that group may be. Poor writing will make them stereotypes worthy of laughter and… Continue reading Is it possible to write a novel or short story that doesn’t perpetuate stereotypes?
Why is it so hard to write a novel, and especially hard to sit down and write your first novel?
The answer to this particular question is easy: Because you’ve never done it before. Any endeavor can be extremely difficult for a beginner. But the more you do — or even the more you sit at your computer and think about writing even if you don’t do any actual work — the easier the process… Continue reading Why is it so hard to write a novel, and especially hard to sit down and write your first novel?
Is editing the most time-consuming part of fiction writing?
Answer 1 Notifications 24 Depends. Issac Azimov once said that he learned to write when writers were paid pennies a page, so he learned to write the finished product as his first draft as a way to same time and earn more money. I do the same thing but it took a long time to… Continue reading Is editing the most time-consuming part of fiction writing?
What makes dialogues attention-grabbing?
Dialogue is often boring. Very often! If you don’t want that to happen, make it short and sweet and to the point. Write your dialogue and then go back over it and see how many words you can cut. When you have pared it to the fewest possible words to get the message across, then… Continue reading What makes dialogues attention-grabbing?
What’s the importance of making story writing a hobby?
My answer is a bit round-about, but stick with me, there's a point at the end. When I first started writing as a career, I found that I ‘wrote out’ a lot of things from my past. Okay, I’ve had an easy, comfortable life but, like with everyone, there were a few things that were… Continue reading What’s the importance of making story writing a hobby?
Why don’t we write “I am going” instead of “I go?”
Most writers do write ‘I am going’ and for a very good reason. Workshops always tell writers and would-be writers to use the active voice and that means writing ‘I go.’ But they also tell writers and would-be writers to write the way people actually speak and since most people say, ‘I am going’… Continue reading Why don’t we write “I am going” instead of “I go?”
How can I write the opening of my novel without it seeming cliche?
There are cliches and there are archetypes. Cliches are bad. Archetypes are good. Both are the same thing. They are characters, subjects, places, or whatever you are writing about, that are familiar enough to your readers that they recognize them easily as people, things, places or whatever that they already know. The difference between… Continue reading How can I write the opening of my novel without it seeming cliche?
How can I write the first chapter of my fantasy novel as a scene that happened 8 years previously?
There are two ways and either way works well: Write the scene as a prologue instead of as a chapter. It’s done all the time and it works great. The only thing to remember if you use this technique is not to make the prologue too long because, for some reason, readers are turned off… Continue reading How can I write the first chapter of my fantasy novel as a scene that happened 8 years previously?
How do I get a first novel published?
This question opens up a can of worms! Writing is the easy part, getting published is waaaaay more difficult! But there are some steps to follow that will get you there. 1. But there are books and blogs and articles out there telling you what to do. I’m not sure how helpful they are but… Continue reading How do I get a first novel published?
