Writing Sales Copy (Book Descriptions)

Hey folks, Note: This post appeared in slightly different form on my Journal. If your books aren’t selling as well as you’d like, here’s the three-step process to more sales: 1. Write the next story or novel. The more work you have out there, the more discoverable you are and the more readers will take you seriously as an author. 2. Create (or have created) a genre- appropriate cover. 3. Write intriguing sales copy that hints … Read more

On Word Choice and Distractions in Fiction

Hey Folks, Recently much has been written over on Pro Writers Writing about word choice. I decided to add a few of my own thoughts here. First, my own rule of thumb: When writing fiction, I try to never put anything on the page that will call attention to itself and thereby distract the reader from the story. That includes unnecessary or misused punctuation, archaic or pretentious words, archaic constructions, and clichéd words or phrases. Distracting … Read more

The Art of Writing Flash Fiction

Hi Folks, Although you can find The Art of Writing Flash Fiction at both Amazon, Smashwords, and other major ebook outlets, today I thought I’d present it for you here free. I’ve written flash fiction for years. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also a great deal more than that. Imagine for a moment the components of fiction—character(s), setting, conflict and resolution—are goldfish milling about in a clear container. If the short story enables you … Read more

On Building Suspense and Creating Tension

Hi Folks, I recently listened to a 6-week classic workshop from WMG Publishing titled “Adding Suspense.” It was a useful workshop, but it became much more useful once I subsitituted “tension” for “suspense” as the instructor, Dean Wesley Smith, spoke. The substitution enabled me to separate the suspense that is an aspect of fiction from the suspense that is the old genre (think Alfred Hitchcock) and that morphed into the modern thriller genre. Suspense remains also … Read more

Mentoring

Note: The post below is an old one. To see what I offer for mentorships now, please click the Mentorships tab on the website. Thanks, Harvey Hi Folks, Three times in my life, I was fortunate enough to find and take advantage of a mentor. Doing so turbocharged my rise through the learning curve of both the writing craft and the business end of writing.  You can see the result by clicking the various menu items … Read more

Take Your Time: Part 3

Hey Folks, “Take your time” has almost become a mantra for me. I’ve pretty well mastered Heinlein’s Rules, especially the all-important Rules 1, 2 and 3. I’ve also pretty well mastered writing off into the dark, which means keeping my conscious, critical mind (the hell) out of my writing. Yet even as I’m writing, I have to remind myself occasionally to slow down, calm my mind and my characters, and record parts of the story that … Read more

Take Your Time (Revisited)

Hey Folks, As I was discussing with one of my mentoring writers a day or two ago, sometimes it’s necessary to take your time while writing. Yes, I write around 900 to 1200 words per hour. But if you do the math, that’s only 15 to 20 words per minute. And a minute is a long time. For comparison, how many WPM did you type in high school? (Mine was around 80 WPM.) So I’m just … Read more

Consistency Is Key

Hi Folks, First, credit where credit is due. The catalyst for this post was Terry Odell’s excellent post on “Tips for Using Apostrophes.” Say you have a character whose name ends in S, for example Thomas. At issue is whether to add another S after using the apostrophe at the end of the character’s name. I never do. In the same manuscript, I’ll write “I went to Thomas’ house before I went to John’s house and … Read more

If You’re a Writer, Write

Hi Folks, While so many are attending monthly writers’ group or crique group meetings, rehashing the same tired advice writers have been swapping and kicking around for years, I write. While so many spend hours, days, months or even years outlining and researching and rewriting and polishing and doing any number of other kind’a sort’a writing-related things that aren’t actual writing… I write. And while so many actively search for (and find) any of myriad other … Read more

What Is a Scene?

Hi Folks, What is a scene? I think it was Bradbury who said a new scene occurs each time there’s a new camera angle. I’m fortunate in that I “see” every new setting and scene in that way (camera angle, in my head). For that reason, for me, every new setting holds a scene. But how we see a scene isn’t important. What matters is that we can see (hear, smell, taste, feel) a scene through … Read more