Living to Write
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
Who One of the most important story elements in any writing is: Who. As mentioned in the previous post, The Lead, the first paragraph of a news story should at minimum describe who, what, where, and when. Unless, of course, there is a reason to add why and how in the lead. Who is always Continue Reading
Character Sketches Character sketches are outlines that offer huge insight into a fictional personality used in a story. In my case, my sketches grow and refine as I go along. When a character first comes along, I set up a sketch that provides some background and back story that helps round out who that person Continue Reading