First, you need to realize there are two basic different types of editing. There is line editing and plot editing (also called development editing). Plot Editing Plot editing is the guts of your novel. It’s not only the plot itself, … Read More
Fiction and violence Nearly all fiction writers are going to have violence of one form or another sooner or later in one of their short stories or novels. Fiction is about conflict, and violence is one of the most common … Read More
Screenwriting saves the day I began writing fiction about thirty years ago, unless you count a couple of short novels I wrote back in fourth and sixth grades; those novels would be called fan fiction today, one being about James … Read More
Dealing with negative reviews If you are a short story writer or a novelist or even a non-fiction writer, not everyone is going to appreciate your work. In fact, some folks might downright hate it. And a lot of them … Read More
Writers hear it all the time, especially fiction writers. “Hey, I’ve got a story idea for you!” Really? How nice. Often the person with the story idea is only trying to be helpful, but other times they have dollar signs … Read More
What is a writing group? A writing group is a gathering of people for the purpose of critiquing each other’s writing. This is a fairly common practice among beginning fiction writers, but other writers can learn from it, too. Writing groups … Read More
You’ve just finished writing your book or article or poem or what-have-you. You’re ready to plunge into editing and rewriting. But hold on a second. Unless you’re on a tight deadline, it’s probably best to set aside your recent writing … Read More
Writers of history A while back I was in an online forum filled with fellow writers. The majority of writers and authors on the site were thriller and romance writers … the “acceptable” genres. While there I noticed a posting about … Read More