Living to Write
Something Happened Joseph Heller (author of Catch 22) published Something Happened in 1974. I read Catch 22 shortly after leaving the military, so the theme and humor wasn’t lost on me. I thought Something Happened would be a good read too. It was a good read in a very strange way. I won’t spoil the Continue Reading
Doors When one door opens … We’ve all heard some version of that. Whether it is the doors closing or the doors opening, we see it as new opportunity or opportunity lost. From an observer’s perspective, though, the door is just a door and it is either open or closed. To the character it is Continue Reading
Words The words we use color our lives and our relationships. Some bring people closer together and others tear people apart. I’ll be honest, I haven’t always used the best words or language. I was a sailor and I’ll use that as my excuse. But, there is no excuse for what some of those words Continue Reading
Voice It’s best to use active voice in fiction writing, they tell us. Passive voice we’d best avoid. I’ll break it down for you. Active voice keeps your reader engaged with action verbs. Passive voice puts the reader to sleep. Back in the day, my mentor in the Navy, Senior Chief Journalist Raymond P. Lucasey*, put it this Continue Reading
Short Fiction Writing short fiction helps you develop your craft. You learn the structure of a story, how to develop a character, and how to keep a story focused. A short story is usually between 3,000 and 7,500 words. Of course, this depends on your market. Some print and online magazines have their own ideas Continue Reading