Every writer’s toolkit should include best practices for quickly drawing readers into the fictive universe. To this end, a large body of craft literature exists on the subject of novel and short story openings. Some tell us, Go for the visceral punch. Others say, Grab the reader’s attention in the first sentence, Arouse her curiosity,… Continue Reading
Marketing is my bête noir. I am reticent by nature and the struggle to promote myseIf is a psychological as well as tactical struggle. (Have you read my self-published book, Ninth-Month Midnight? No? Point made.) To try to remedy this failing, I’ve sought out advice on the Internet and combed through book after book on… Continue Reading
A host of indie and traditionally published writers are exhorting authors to share a manifesto with their followers. The dictionary defines manifesto as a statement of values, beliefs and goals. As applied to our profession, it is designed to remind us why we’re writers and to get us back on track when we’ve gone astray.… Continue Reading
How many words constitute flash fiction? What’s the cutoff? The number seems to vary according to publication. Up to 1000 words according to Smokelong.com and Flashfictiononline.com submissions criteria. For Vestalreview.com the cutoff is 500 words. Flash fiction is significantly shorter than short stories, but how short can fiction go and still be recognized as a… Continue Reading
It wasn’t until yesterday that I realized I was into the middle of the month and hadn’t posted for June. My memory had been swept away in a whirl of celebrations—graduations, birthdays, Mother’s Day. Well, then, better late than never, as “they” are so fond of saying. But what would I write about? Then I… Continue Reading
I’m lucky enough to have written and self-published a novel called Ninth-Month Midnight. (http://amzn.to/2q23pAP) But since then I’ve been going bonkers trying to get started on my next novel. I can’t begin to count the number of suggested approaches I’ve attempted to put into effect. The following are just a few of the resources I’ve… Continue Reading
Novelists do well to heed the sound advice that prevails in the writing community: Know your audience. It does not follow, however, that we should pigeonhole our fiction to fit a commercial category. My work is eclectic; some of my short stories have elements of fantasy, horror and romance, but the content of my long-form… Continue Reading
I’ve been having a devil of a time shaping my novel in progress (in slooow progress). In revisiting resources, I’ve come to realize that all roads lead to Athens, that is, to Aristotle. In his Poetics Aristotle tells us that story, by which he means narrative literature, must have a beginning, a middle, and an… Continue Reading
Given the current political scene, George Orwell’s work has re-emerged into prominence. His novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, was originally published in 1949, when the world faced the rising threat of Soviet totalitarianism. Today, almost seventy years later, the perceived threat is closer to home, and Orwell’s novel has skyrocketed onto Amazon’s bestseller list. In a 1974… Continue Reading
Readers, I’m in a panic! I haven’t written anything in three months and I’m scared to death I’ll never write anything again. I keep looking at old material that hasn’t been published, groping around, trying to find appropriate lit mags for my unpublished work. But … I … have … not …written … a …… Continue Reading