Freya crouched precariously atop the mound of discarded metal. She toyed with the intricate pistons of a small gyrocopter engine, its brass casing glinting against the red rust of the sunset. She tugged the engine free of the surrounding scrap, sending it toppling towards her cart below, piled high with parts. To anyone […]
A Place in the Skies Read More »
Think of the start of a story as a dating profile. The opening often determines whether a reader or editor swipes left and moves on to something else or swipes right and keeps reading. Context, commitment, characters, conflict, and clarity can make an opening awesome. CONTEXT Context involves grounding the reader by establishing the setting
Constructing Awesome Openings Read More »
During a recent museum trip, I discovered how dazzling details make Takashi Murakami’s artwork magical. But you don’t have to incorporate a tiny self-portrait and a prized pet, like Murakami did in his painting Tan Tan Bo, aka Gerotan: Scorched by the Blaze in the Purgatory of Knowledge, into your own work to make it
The Dazzle Is In the Details Read More »
A “darling” is any part of a piece that isn’t essential. Darlings have the potential to steal the focus away from the heart of a story. Darlings can waste word count and break the special spell superb stories cast. Featuring, moving, or killing these beloved bits can free up word count, improve pacing, and keep
Focus Your Flash: Feature, Move, or Kill Your Darlings Read More »
They say there are rules for a reason. But who is this mysterious they, and do we really have to listen to them? Yes, and no. Helpful, right? When approaching writing conventions, there’s a complementary duality worth exploring. There are valid reasons we should adhere to established standards. There’s also a compelling argument for shaking
Breaking the Rules: Doing It With Intention and Style Read More »
There’s an odd phenomenon in literature: when presented with dragons and wizards in a mystical kingdom, the reader automatically accepts the fantastic elements. We understand the world offered is born wholly from imagination, and though we may not initially grasp the rules of this outlandish environment, we trust the author to show us how it
Metaphor or Magic: How to Get the Reader to Accept the Absurd Read More »
We’ve all seen it – a strong voice has a character leaping off the page, and a weak one can make them disappear. The concept of character voice sounds simple; it’s how the characters speak, right? That’s accurate, to a point. The problem is when the voice ends with the dialogue. THERE’S MORE TO IT
Character Voice: It’s Not Just What They Say Read More »
Soren was only a boy when I met him, a boy lost in the Forest of Souls. Princess Savine had taken me there, her newest pikka, to remind me of what happened to handmaidens who displeased her. Her skin was as dusky and golden as the marigolds strewn across the royal table, for on these
The Tiger’s Handmaiden Read More »
My current mess started the day I opened my email to find an unusual subject line in one of the headers. Your Payment to Middle Earth Has Been Accepted. Brutus, my purebred Labradoodle mutt, lifted his head from where he’d set it on my knee, his golden ears twitching.
Your Payment to Middle Earth Has Been Accepted Read More »
I died on a Tuesday, which wasn’t nearly as inconvenient as dying again on Thursday. The first death was clinical—heart stopped for six minutes during a valve replacement. But death, like most bureaucracies, has loopholes. The surgeons pulled me back and sent me home with blood thinners and instructions to “take
The Second Death of Wallace Porter Read More »
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