“The truest thing you can say about writing is ‘it depends’”—Scott Lynch “It depends” is the experienced writer’s answer to anyone who’s looking for rules and recipes. There is no “right answer.” There is only “a possible right answer for this story.” Even then, it’s only a
Read more →It’s been a while since I talked about structure, and Rose’s question in the last Open Mike made me realize that I normally talk about structure in general, not about specific story structures. So this time, I’m going to dig into alternating storylines. I’m not talking about
Read more →A lot of writers have talked about the importance of choosing the “right word,” from Gustave Flaubert’s “le mot juste” to Mark Twain’s “the difference between the almost-right word and the right word…is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” We talk about this because
Read more →It’s another Open Mike! Talk amongst yourselves about whatever you want–news, WIPs, questions, complaints, what gets you going, what gets you stuck, whatever…
Read more →If you want to make a living in the arts, there are always two things you have to worry about: how to create the best art you can (whether it’s a physical product like a book or painting, or something more ephemeral like a live performance), and
Read more →Writer’s Block. There are a ton of different definitions of it, ranging from the exceedingly broad (“Any time you want to write but can’t for whatever reason” which technically includes sitting in the dentist’s chair or being at the store buying groceries) to the humorous (“Writer’s block
Read more →Tight-third-person is currently one of the most common choices for viewpoint, particularly in genre fiction. It has a lot of advantages. It’s very character-focused, almost as much as first-person. It allows for more narrative flexibility than first person. It makes it easy to switch viewpoints without confusing
Read more →When I’m between books, I frequently check out different writing systems, hoping I’ll find something that will make starting up the next book easier. Lately, I’ve run across quite a few “how to write a novel” systems that take a fractal approach to writing a novel. For
Read more →I think of plot as having several different kinds of layers. There’s “what happened” on an external, physical level (which is the action layer that most people think of first when talking about “the plot). But there’s also an emotional layer involving characters’ relationships and/or whatever personal
Read more →And it’s another open-mike day! Talk among yourselves, ask questions, update everyone on what’s going on in your life or with your WIP. I’m fleshing out maps and background timelines for my two possible WIPs (still haven’t decided on which to do yet, but I’m leaning toward
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