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Why Write?
It’s a question that has been asked many times, yet it continues to persist and it becomes hypothetical because writers know why they write. For the benefit of those who do not understand the nature of the writing vocation, I am throwing in my ten...
How Plotting Helped Me To Overcome Writer's Block
I have always been a pantser in that I tend to write the ideas as they pop into my head and worry about it making sense later. It worked for me in the past before I decided to take things seriously as a writer and...
Flashbacks and Insights
Many writers use italics for flashback and introspection, while others do not bother. This confuses the novice writer. As always, writing is an art that must never be confined in strict conformities. Flashbacks and insights are two different things. Flashback refers to an event in...
Authenticating Your Historical Fiction
How much research should go into your historical fiction in order to make it credible and authentic? Whether you are writing a short story or a novel, the research should be enough to make your reader feel transported to the time period. Yet how much...
Stories Must Begin With Action
You open your story with the protagonist sitting by the windowsill watching the clouds roll by, or standing on the rooftop looking below at the people walking past. This kind of opening does not offer any action or drama. The character is not doing anything...
Misconceptions About First Person Narration
Visit your local bookstore and sift through the titles of young adult fiction. It is surprising to see that a huge chunk of the YA market is written in the first person point of view. The first person narration conveys narration with optimum effect. Yet...
Character Development Through the Passage of Time
Character attitudes and sentiments must develop as the story progresses. Whether a character saturates the pages with his presence, or if he has disappeared for a few pages or more (even for a few hours), the character must exhibit something new or redescribed to align...
Should You Quit Writing?
Writing as a vocation is a love-hate relationship. It is an art often romanticized as an elusive muse that needs taming in order for it to flow. This rings true for the writer who is yet to be published. At some point, an aspiring man...
The Quick-Paced, Formulated Story
Quick-paced, formulated fiction has a bad reputation among many writers. This story structure is highlighted by stereotypical heroes and heroines where introspection takes a back seat as events are narrated through action. The plot is the selling point, and readers are less invested in the characters. The...
Background Story in Your Story
Part of which makes characters believable are their background stories. It is the component that makes readers love or hate them. Any character devoid of their own what, when, why, who, where, and how becomes unrealistic and forgettable. But in fiction, too much of anything...