A few years back, I was discussing the importance of viewpoint choice with a young writer. We appeared to be in complete agreement on the subject, right up to the point where he commented that changing the viewpoint of “Snow White” to one of the dwarfs made
Read more →Characterization comes in two parts—physical and personality, or, if you prefer, external and internal. This complicates all the basic telling/showing decisions, which are complicated even more by what the story’s viewpoint is. Let’s start with the physical/external, because it’s a lot like the description of places I
Read more →Today I want to talk about the “show” part of “show, don’t tell.” Because it isn’t quite as simple as it looks. (And that is why it took me the whole post to just talk about showing in terms of describing a setting, meaning I’m going to
Read more →Probably the most common piece of technical advice about writing fiction is “show, don’t tell.” I’ve gone on at length in other posts about what’s wrong with this dictum, but today I want to talk about how to do it right. Starting with some technical aspects. First,
Read more →I’m posting this on New Year’s Eve, when everybody celebrates having made it through the last year and looks with hope toward the blank slate that arrives tomorrow. Of course, for most of us, it isn’t really a totally blank slate. I have several projects in various
Read more →I’m posting this on Christmas Eve day, which this year is also an Open Mike day! (I usually take a week off this time of year anyway, but this is convenient…) So chat among yourselves…and also, check out this post at Writer Beware: https://writerbeware.blog/2025/11/14/if-a-famous-author-calls-hang-up-anatomy-of-an-impersonation-scam/ (There are also
Read more →Creativity is not a well-understood thing. Most people have no trouble recognizing its results, but they have a lot more trouble recognizing creativity in process…sometimes, even when it’s their own. People keep trying to break down the creative process into neat little boxes, in an attempt to
Read more →When it comes to characters, one of the first things writers are told is that characters should be “well-rounded.” This is usually followed by advice like “know your character’s purpose” and “give them flaws.” Sometimes, there’s more specific advice, such as “demonstrate (i.e., “show”) characterization in actions
Read more →November is possibly the second-worst month in which to start a new novel. I’d peg December as the worst one, for the same reason: everyone is always extra busy and distracted during the end-of-year holidays. (These are also bad months for trying to finish a novel. In
Read more →Happy Thanksgiving! Open Mike day matches up with Thanksgiving week this year–so what are the other Americans doing for Turkey Day? I’m staying home, making lobster tails, pesto salad, cranberry bread, and my favorite veggie side dish while taking calls from my spread-out family members. I’ll get
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