writing tips

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Point of View: There Are No New Ideas. Or Are There?

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I sometimes pine for the Golden Age era of sci-fi, when everything was new. Each story idea shone with fresh brilliance, and many of the tropes we still use today were just being invented by Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury and others. Sure, it was pretty much a white-men-only club (with a few notable exceptions). Yes, you had to write everything on a typewriter (they didn’t even have correction fluid until the late fifties), and there was no such thing as self publishing, or home computers, or Amazon, or the web in general. Still, as a sci-fi writer in the late Thirties … Read more

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Point of View: Break the Rules

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So many rules. Every part of our lives is governed by them, and sadly writing is no exception. There are rules of grammar: 
If you made it through high school English and you want be a writer, you probably have a pretty decent handle on these rules. But there are others, too. For instance, formatting rules, which can shift and change over time: There are many more… for standard formatting guidelines, check out William Shunn’s formatting guides online—these have become industry standard
. There are rules for characters: There are many more of these that the typical writer picks up in … Read more

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Point Of View: Hitting The Beats (It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint)

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One of the hardest tricks to learn when writing novels is pacing. It’s a little easier with a short story—at 5-15,000 words, it’s harder for readers to become bored with your characters’ exploits. But with a novella or novel, pacing becomes more important. The classic example of a pacing template comes from the historical Romance market. Once upon a time, there were very specific plot expectations laid out for romance books by the major Romance publishers: • The characters meet • They’re in denial about their connection • They decide to give it a chance • They date • There’s … Read more

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Point of View: Building a House

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house made of books - Deposit Photos

In writing, there are many different forms, or structures, to choose from when you decide to write something new. Which one you use depends on the story you want to tell. It’s like building a house. Maybe you have one person’s story to tell, something that takes place over a fairly short period of time. You might choose to build a small studio apartment, where everything has its place and nothing that isn’t necessary is included. That’s a short story, usually anything up to 15,000 words. Maybe you want to tell the story of a couple characters, but still over … Read more

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Point of View: From the Top

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Maybe you were a writing whiz in high school, and finished your first novel before you were eighteen. Or maybe you’re in your fifties (or seventies) and just discovered your great desire to pen fascinating stories that everyone will want to read. No matter when and where you start, you’ll need to learn the basics before your writing can soar. There Are (Weird, Contradictory) Rules The history of writing goes back almost as far as humankind, with ancient civilizations employing cuneiform and hieroglyphs to tell stories and communicate information verbally. And since you’re not (I’m guessing) Mesopotamian, you probably share … Read more

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Point of View: Plantsing

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It’s an age-old debate. Plotter or pantser? Is one better than the other? Which one are you? A plotter is someone who plans out their entire story in advance. Plotters are known for making extensive outlines, doing deep dives into internet searches to pull together all the materials they will need, and making sure all their i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed before writing a word of the actual story. They are perfectionists, lovers of story arcs marked with specific “beats” that they plan to hit at exact points of the narrative to ensure their characters and plots reach … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Choosing Person and Tense – Third Person

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Last week we talked about writing in first person. This week I thought I’d tackle the more common third person usage. Third person means using he/she/they etc pronouns – stories that describe the action from outside of the characters. It comes in three basic flavors: Third Person Omniscient: The most common of the three. Omniscient allows you to have multiple viewpoint characters, and an outside “omniscient” narrator who’s basically describing the story as it goes (you). This version of third person gives you the most freedom, as you can head hop (although doing so within a scene is strongly discouraged) … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Choosing Person and tense – First Person

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When crafting a story, every writer has to make some key choices: What’s the genre? What’s the tone? How about the setting? Who are the characters, and what’s going to happen to them? How will they react? And will it all end? But there’s another choice we all make, consciously or unconsciously, that can have a huge impact on the story and how it’s perceived by the reader: Choosing the person you’ll tell your story in, and the tense. The vast majority of stories are told in third-person, simple past: Someone knocked on the door. Zippy the dingo went to … Read more