writing
Top 10 Reasons (Not?) to Be a Writer
Alan Baxter posted this list last week, and it’s still making the rounds. “And before anyone accuses me,” Alan writes, “of being all jaded and defeatist, I prefer to look at it as arming myself with the truth in order to beat that f***er down and prove every point on this list wrong.” He’s talking [...]
Flash Fiction Turn-ons and Turn-offs (part 2)
Yesterday, I began with part one, the first 3 turn-ons and 5 turn-offs. In this part, I finish with the final 4 turn-ons and 12 turn-offs. (Sounds like I’m designing a freeway, doesn’t it?) I briefly want to reiterate one small point from the introduction (just in case you didn’t read it or don’t remember [...]
7 Flash-Fiction Turn-Ons (and 17 Turn-Offs)
PJ Kaiser suggested—probably because I’ve been doing weekly “#FridayFlash Favorites” posts—that I write about what catches my attention in a flash story, and what turns me off. I thought that was a pretty kewl idea, and I further decided to link to last week’s #FridayFlash stories (because they’re still fresh in my mind) in order [...]
“Aha!” Moments and Character “Change”
I love character stories. In fact, I rarely enjoy a story unless it has a character-driven component. So I was naturally surprised that I so enjoyed Al Bruno’s latest #FridayFlash story. It’s not really a character story, per se. Or is it? I actually have a different take on that now, different than last week. [...]
How to Write a Character-Driven Flash Story Really Fast
A couple Fridays ago— This is just after my computer gave out, and I was behind schedule on everything. Come Friday morning, I had not started writing a story for #FridayFlash. I didn’t even have an idea. So I used the following 5-step process to whip one together, in less than 3 hours from start [...]
Crime Fiction: Ten Cliches to Avoid
I’ve been wrestling with a lot of personal issues, and I haven’t had the time I usually do to write. So I pulled out this useful article by author William Meikle, as a guest post for today. -TimK Crime Fiction – Ten Cliches to Avoid by William Meikle Crime fiction is big business at the [...]
10 Flash Fiction Writing Tips
Every writer who writes flash has one of these lists, even if flash is not his area of expertise. Even if he doesn’t write it down, he keeps it in the back of his mind. I tend to enjoy character-driven fiction, and I enjoy character-driven flash as well. You might think that flash offers too [...]
Examples of Alternative Conflict
I called it “alternative conflict” in Monday’s post, but a better monicker might be “problem-free conflict,” because it pops up over and over again in literature, TV, and film. Usually, it’s used alongside the more traditional character problems. “But character problems cause conflict,” I hear you objecting. “How can you have conflict without character problems?” [...]
The Need for Better Writers’ T-Shirts
Okay, not all writer’s novelty T-shirts are that bad. Browsing the ones on CafePress, some of them are downright witty, such as “I write, therefore I am,” “I’m plotting against you,” and the always-applicable “Careful or you’ll end up in my novel.” But some of the best writer’s T-shirts actually come from the filmmaking category: [...]
Exploring Alternative Conflict
My #FridayFlash short-short story, “Too Much Information,” this past week experimented with a different kind of conflict, something I’m calling “alternative conflict.” In reality, there are published stories out there, in prose and in TV and film, that already use conflict like this, so it really isn’t alternative. (It’s mainstream.) But the advice that you [...]