Hi Folks, While glancing over the internet awhile back for items of interest, I checked in on a blog I’d saved in my bookmarks but hadn’t looked at recently. When I save one in my bookmarks, it’s because I hope it will provide valuable, or at least valid, information. A writer posed this implied question: I have trouble trying to figure out when to begin and end paragraphs and when to have dialogue included in the … Read more
Hi Folks, Reedsy puts out a weekly newsletter with writing prompts. Sometimes, the prompt is an actual story idea. Other times, it’s only a prompt. What’s the difference? Here’s a story prompt: A person coming home late from a New Year’s Eve Party stops by a McDonald’s. A person staying home for New Year’s Eve goes to McDonald’s for a late night snack. And here’s a story idea: As the countdown on New Year’s Eve reaches … Read more
Hi Folks, I did a post on Writing Off Into the Dark here some time back. Then recently (as I write this) I got into an email discussion with a fellow novelist who also writes off into the dark. The upshot was, he wondered whether maybe — when a character does something that’s unexpected and out of character — it’s all right or even necessary to create a history for that character that would explain the … Read more
Hey folks, Recently I engaged in a disagreement with a bestselling writer who is also a mentor of sorts. The disagreement had to do with whether, when a reader is ejected from a story because of a fake detail or other inanity, that is the result of the reader’s taste. I argued that it’s the fault of the writer. I do understand my mentor’s point. If something simply isn’t to your taste as a reader, there’s … Read more