Category Archives: Writing: Style

Whence Conflict?

Posted on January 21, 2009 by dave

In previous posts, I’ve talked about a necessary ingredient in your novel (indeed, in all fiction): conflict. So what should the conflict be? Sometimes it’s obvious, for example your novel on star-crossed lovers. Other times it may not be. When … Continue reading →

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Proposal Writing

Posted on January 20, 2009 by dave

I haven’t put a post up for the last couple days because I’ve been deeply involved in writing a proposal for my day job. Pondering this, I think the similarities between writing a good novel and writing a good proposal … Continue reading →

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Imagine Your Scene

Posted on January 14, 2009 by dave

When I write a scene, I’m writing down what I’ve already imagined. In fact, I live my novels! I’ve thought through the scene as though I were there as one of the participants. I see it, feel it, smell it, … Continue reading →

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My Scene isn’t Working!

Posted on January 12, 2009 by dave

You’ve honed your characters and written their bios and let their backstories consume your daydreams. The conflict is palpable. The plot is moving forward. But you’ve rewritten your scene to the point of wearing out your keyboard, and it still … Continue reading →

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Foreshadowing

Posted on January 9, 2009 by dave

It’s true that fiction has to make sense, whereas real life doesn’t. You’re asking your reader to willingly suspend disbelief and take your story at face value. Sure, they’ll let you colonize Mars. Or they’ll buy a new breed of … Continue reading →

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Use All Five Senses

Posted on January 6, 2009 by dave

How do you like this: Hank walked into the living room where Mary was serving breakfast. He spoke to Mary as he wolfed down his eggs. Compared to this: Mary heard Hank’s familiar footsteps as he entered the brightly lit … Continue reading →

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Treat Your Reader as an Equal

Posted on January 5, 2009 by dave

To whom are you writing? To kids? Retirees? Ham radio operators? There’s one thing they all have in common. No one likes being talked down to. Treat your audience as an equal. That means assume they are smart people and … Continue reading →

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Sentence Length

Posted on January 2, 2009 by dave

One piece of advice you’ll get from everyone concerns sentence length. A long sentence is long, therefore it must meander, therefore you aren’t really sure what you want to say. Short sentences are short. Really short. Short! (And therefore non-fattening … Continue reading →

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Those (%$&*@) Parentheses!

Posted on December 29, 2008 by dave

One critique I get at all writing workshops is that I use parentheses too much. In fact, one critiquer, an excellent writer, commented that reading my work was like shoveling snow off a walk–every so often he hits an uneven … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing: Punctuation, Writing: Style | Leave a comment