Woof. Here’s the thing about writing. Sometimes it ain’t pretty. In fact, sometimes it is downright menacing for your health.
Take the latest story I have been working on in-between more serious ventures. Please.
Continue reading “Creating A Villain, Then Taking A Shower Afterwards”
Let’s say your sink has exploded, your significant other is more significant with others, your pet is sick, the roof is on fire but not in a fun/party way, you’ve been told off by people you respect, your job is a soul-draining vampire that has clamped down on your neck and won’t let go, you are frustrated, mad, and sad.
But you still have to write.
A key point about writing genre novels (and what ISN’T a genre these days) is to read heavily in the genre you wish to write in.
Which, yes, okay… that’s true. If you want to write Romance, read Romance. Take a look at modern trends, look at how the market is going, then take your story and aim for the biggest readership you can get. That’s all fine.
Here’s the problem: ONLY reading within your genre.
There are many rules about writing prose fiction. Any creative writing course will drill those rules into you. But don’t be fooled. These “rules” are merely guidelines that help you focus your prose. But they aren’t commandments. I think there is only one real rule so far as prose construction goes:
Rules about writing should be followed, unless they shouldn’t.
Continue reading “The Worst Good Writing Advice I’ve Received So Far”
In the latest post on LionAroundWriting, the subject of “writer’s freeze” is addressed.
Specifically, this refers to a total writer shutdown when panicking about word counts and trying to keep your subject as brief as possible without cutting everything interesting out of a story.
This is more than a post; this is a conversation. So please join in the talk!
…ANYONE ELSE GET THIS? Maybe this terror of going over a word limit began at university with 2000 word limits on essays. I get the freeze when I’m writing a short story. Maybe freeze isn’t a great word for it but I’ll explain. Sometimes I will be writing a piece and I’m so conscious of word count that I end up writing lazy sentences, freezing up; instead of describing the world and filling in those all important details that bring a story to life, I’ll write stubby sentences, providing a skeleton but little else as a result of being way too mindful of the number of words. It’s some form of mental block.
And if I plan to write for a WordPress post, I’m always trying to keep it snappy, under about 5-600 words, and the freeze begins again. I’m so habituated to strive for 500 words online…
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The BIGGEST minutiae 