Living to Write
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
2017 Our gift from 2017 is snow. Lots and lots of snow. And cold. Yeah, we got some cold here. Both the weather cold and the virus cold. Not fun together. But, we’re getting past the virus cold. I’ve cleared the drive and sidewalk on an almost daily basis. The back yard is about knee-deep Continue Reading
What The story element What is a critical part of a story. Who is important, but without What, there really isn’t any story. The What generally amounts to an event, a romance, an accident, a speech, an election, or an apocalypse. Normally, What is your plot in the novel or short story and is what Continue Reading