Category: my novel’s progress
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Writing Experiment: Personality Test For Characters
Kieren Westwood runs a writing channel on YouTube. Recently, he revealed he used the 16 Personalities website, and took the personality test. But he didn’t take it as himself. He took it as if he were one of his characters. He recommended doing this for a simple analysis of a character’s personality. I’ve been thinking…
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Friday’s Findings: A Little Off the Top
Currently, I am working on my novella, Traption. I practice taking a little off the top at the beginning of each scene. I learned this concept from Jessica Brody’s Writing Mastery Academy course on revision. She recommends going through each scene to determine whether or not the scene begins at the “correct” place. She recommends…
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Friday’s Findings: A Sci-fi Podcast Recommendation
I’ve discovered a new podcast and I love it because it reviews science fiction novels. It’s called Hugonauts: The Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time. Two guys named Brent and Cody discuss the things they like and didn’t like about well known sci-fi books from over the years. It’s fairly new, so there are enough…
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Friday’s Findings: Doing a Scene Audit
I’ve been on vacation this week and while I haven’t gotten as much reading done as I would have liked, I have gotten a LOT done on my novella, Traption. I’ve spent this week going through each scene, one by one and asking myself the following questions: Does this scene have a goal?What are the…
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Writers: Let’s Take Action
How can you reveal truths through your storytelling? How can you say what needs to be said through your fiction? How can recent events in the news be reflected in your writing?
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Silas House and Where He Finds Inspiration
In a post from last week, I discussed weaving in backstory to avoid infodumps. Coincidentally, the day I posted it on this blog, I attended the Speed Art Museum that evening where Kentucky author Silas House spoke on the subject. One thing he said stuck out to me: “I believe there’s a very thing veil…
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Game of Life
Just had to share my new game shelf:
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Friday’s Findings: Balancing Descriptions
Not too much, not too little. Not talking about the ranch seasoning powder I add to my tuna casserole recipe. I’m talking about description in fiction writing. I keep reading over and over: description isn’t about quantity, it’s about quality. Whether it’s describing a character, a room, or a car, one or two descriptors go…
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Avoid Infodumps: Dole Out Information
As I write my current draft for my WIP called Traption, I am trying to avoid infodumps. One way to avoid heaping a mound of story-stopping background details is to weave the information throughout the story. Use dialogue. Use a short flashback. Use inner monologue. Doling out the information a little here, a little there,…
Andrew M. Friday 