Category: my novel’s progress
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Friday’s Findings: Body Parts
The other day, I wrote this while finishing a scene:Rax’s hand reached out and pointed toward the window. I remember reading somewhere to avoid disembodied hands, arms, eyes and other appendages doing the action instead of the character. So, I rewrote the the sentence with the character performing the action:Rax gestured toward the window. It…
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My Favorite SF&F Shows, Part 8
I didn’t want to subscribe to AppleTV+. Just one more stupid streaming service to take my money every month. However, I kept seeing all these great science fiction shows on this channel, and some of them were based on books I had read. My friends kept saying, “Subscribe and cancel when you’re done.” So, I…
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Friday’s Findings: Name-dropping
The other day, I typed out a paragraph for the science fiction novella I’m working on, and I realized I’ve had this aching question for years: when do I use a character’s name and when do I use a pronoun instead? Are there formal rules for this sort of thing? When do I use my…
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Friday’s Findings: The Greener Grass
I looked at the front yard this morning. The grass is sparse. Patchy. A few scraggly blades poking up between dusty soil. Was it the tree stealing all the water? The heat baking the earth? Or just me, distracted again, forgetting to water it? They say the grass is always greener on the other side,…
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Friday’s Findings: The 555 Experiment
When I did my own NaNoWriMo last month, I realized something: writing 1,666 words a day isn’t sustainable for me. I work a full-time job, and I’m not as fortunate as someone with a flexible schedule or who doesn’t have to work full-time. For people in those situations who wish to write, I truly wish…
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Should You Bundle Your Books?
For the past few months, I had been playing with the idea of bundling the books in my Consortium series I’ve written so far. I had already bought a pre-made cover from bookcoverzone.com, so I thought ‘what the heck.’ It’s gone more smoothly than I thought possible. One thing I’ve done is put the book…
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Friday’s Findings: Beginnings and Ends for a Scene
I’ve been writing a lot of scenes lately, and I am constantly asking myself, “Am I beginning all my scenes the same way?” Am I always starting with dialogue? And what about ending a scene? How can I make sure I’m not always ending my scenes in the same way? Are some of them cliffhangers,…
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The Consortium Saga Omnibus
Available for preorder: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Apple Books /Fable Kobo / Vivlio / Thalia / Smashwords The crew of The Planned Happenstance must save the planet Spotov from the false advocate. Or die trying. The Consortium. A supposed “utopia” where thousands of planets benefit from financial and cultural unity. Where neurological experiences…
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My 50k Novel in 30 Days: Final Daze
During my last three days of doing this unofficial NaNoWriMo, I wondered about my writing craft process for the future… Day 28 It is a sad day for me. The website for NaNoWriMo has vanished. Ironic it happened while I’m in the last week of one of the best 50k words in 30 days I’ve ever done.…
Andrew M. Friday 