Category: revising
-

Writing a Strong Scene
Have you ever written a scene and wondered if it was good enough? What criteria can you use to determine whether that scene is strong or weak? Here’s a writing infographic from xterraweb.com on writing strong scenes. Photo by Mary Taylor from Pexels
-

Plot: What’s It All About?
-

Friday’s Findings
Writing a novel, or even a short story, can be daunting. “I’ll never finish.” “I don’t have time.” “I’m not a good writer.” Everyone who writes fiction feels this way at times. Here are some habits I’ve picked up along the way to keep me from feeling overwhelmed: I email a scene idea to myself.…
-

Some Writing Tools
When I taught college English courses and creative writing classes, I came across a book by Roy Peter Clark called Free to Write: A Journalist Teaches Young Writers. It’s out of print now, but this book offered me a treasure trove of writing instruction for my college students. Recently, I found the infographic below and…
-

Friday’s Findings
My WIP, a novel called Oblivion’s Hope, is written in first person point-of-view (POV). I’ve been looking for some advice on maximizing the use of first person POV, and it just so happens a book I’m currently reading, Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk, offers a great tip on using the first person: “… Submerge the…
-

Finding forrester. Again.
Twenty years ago, one of my favorite movies about a writer was filmed. This weekend, I’m going to watch it again after not seeing it for a long time. I haven’t been able to go to the movie theatre in person all year because of COVID-19, so I’ve been streaming movies every weekend. I decided…
-

Am I Crazy?
I haven’t blogged much for the past two weeks because I’ve been busy finishing my latest episode for my space opera series Consortium. The third book should be coming out July 15. I’ll post on here when it is available for pre-order. So, I have a few writing projects (or works-in-progress, as writers say) on…
-

Writing Style Outcasts: Passive Voice
You may have heard using the passive voice is “incorrect.” In fiction writing, however, the passive voice can be used. It is not so much incorrect as “When is it appropriate?” Before discussing the answer to that question, I’d like to offer a brief review of the difference between passive voice and active voice. Sentences…
