When is description too much?
Words For Writers asked a damned good question a couple months back and I’ve been meaning to address it here. When is description too much? The simple answer: when it goes on for more than a page. But we’re not here for simple answers.Some fiction writers deem it necessary to babble endlessly about one piece […]
Reader Question: Dialogue Tags (Friend or Foe?)
Tsuki (a friend from Young Writers Online) recently asked me whether dialogue tags are good or bad, so I thought I would tackle that question here. The problem with dialogue tags is that everyone who has been professionally/traditionally published, and has been successful at it, has different opinions on how to properly use dialogue tags. […]
Reader Question: Colon-oscopies (or How to Use the Colon and Its Cousin)
Tsuki over at Young Writers Online asked: How the hell do you use a colon or semi-colon correctly? This should be fairly easy to answer. Here goes: ColonsThe colon is primarily used to attach lists or related statements to an already completed sentence. Here’s an example: Billy wanted to buy three things while he was […]
Reader Question: When to Think About Endings
GothixHalo recently asked: When you are writing is it better to have the ending already worked out or to have it work itself out during the process? There’s no proper way to answer this question. How you write endings is entirely up to you based on what works best. Some writers have them worked out […]
Five Oft-Repeated, But Invaluable Writing Tips
I’m not making this list with the intention to simply repeat what everyone else has said, but to offer some notes of advice that I know personally to have worked. Perhaps you can take something from my personal experiences with these tips that you wouldn’t have been able to get from the myriad of repeated […]
How Not To Sell Your Fiction
Since I haven’t a clue how to actually sell fiction–considering that I haven’t done so myself–I can at least talk about the reasons why you won’t sell your work–assuming, of course, that selling your work is your intention.How do you go about not selling your work? Well, these are some pretty good reasons: You Don’t […]