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 …
Tag: stories
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 …
About rain — rainbows — writing — stories of wonder.
It's raining today. Sort of raining, just enough to get everything wet and make me not want to go outside and stand in it because I'd get chilled and soaked, though the ground will still be thirsty when it ends because it's not coming down hard. Still, considering we've been in a 'red flag' event …
Continue reading About rain — rainbows — writing — stories of wonder.
More about black cats. Yep, there’s more.
Black cats are as easily adopted as cats of other colors. Although euthanasia numbers for black cats have been some of the highest of all cats, their total number of adoptions was the highest of any hue as well. There may just simply be more black cats than other colors. Furthermore, the Black Panther movie …
How can I get readers to relate to a non-human character in a story?
Easy. Give them human characteristics, which is what most, if not all, writers do when describing non-human characters. I suspect it’s the ONLY way to describe a character because, as humans, we don’t know how to describe anything other than ourselves and, fortunately for writers, that includes a huge range of characters from the …
Continue reading How can I get readers to relate to a non-human character in a story?
How do I write a science fiction short story when I don’t have any ideas on what to write about?
Actually, it’s not as hard as you might think. As a short story writer, I wrote one story a week, which is par for most writers of short fiction. But that means there are times when the creative juices dry up. Sort of. That’s when I learned to look at the menu on the satellite …
Does writing exhaust or energize you? What are some common traps for aspiring writers?
Both because writing is both exhausting and energizing. It all depends on what step I’m at in the process whether I mentally and emotionally sag or whether I look at what I’ve done or am doing and realize that it’s pretty good. Traps for new writers? They are all mental: Thinking you’re not good …
Another interesting factoid about black cats. (They are healthy.)
THE GENE THAT CAUSES BLACK FUR MIGHT MAKE THESE FELINES RESISTANT TO DISEASE. The mutation that causes a cat’s fur to be black is in the same genetic family as genes known to give humans resistance to diseases like HIV. So perhaps their color has less to do with camouflage than disease resistance. Scientists hope …
Continue reading Another interesting factoid about black cats. (They are healthy.)
Black Cats. Gotta love ’em.
There's a lot to love about these black, fur-balls as evidenced by holidays in their honor. What, you say? Holidays just for a specific color cat? Yep. The ASPCA celebrates Black Cat Appreciation Day annually on August 17. In England, October 27 is National Black Cat Day. I mention these because my latest clean small-town …
I’m trying to write a plot line for a book but I keep on overthinking it and eventually hating them. How do I see it through to the end?
Plotting is a science and the more you do it the better your plots will be. So hang in there. But — there are ways to do it that make the whole thing easier. This is only one way but it’s the way I use: 1. Describe your main character in 2 to 4 sentences. …
