The root of a good story is always conflict. The more, the better. But you don’t like conflict in your own life. No one does. You’d like to be nice to your characters. Give them easy lives. Get over it. You’ve got to have conflict to keep people turning pages. How to set up conflict? […]
A Word about Suspense
You’ve got a great story idea, characters your readers will love, and a fantastic surprise twist. You can’t wait to start writing and lead your readers along the path of suspense that builds up to the big reveal at some point late in the story. Most of all, it tickles your stomach to think of […]
Better than a critique group…
Critique groups as currently practiced by many writers include sharing books, one chapter at a time, for comment and critique. I’ve done this before, and while it helped hone my line-editing skills, it did nothing to help me plot the book, a question which remained a puzzle for me for a long time. In addition, […]
Writers, how to make a great plot
If you hang out with other writers in critique groups, you may get lots of advice about the mechanics of good writing. Watch the passive voice. Use strong verbs rather than adverbs. Use the five senses in descriptions. And so on. But what about the overarching story? Are your critique partners watching that too? Often, […]
Four elements that every flash fiction story needs
Sick of writing your novel? Sure, I may be biased since I run Splickety Magazine, a flash fiction publication dedicated to showcasing the country’s best quick fic with kick, but we all know how difficult it can be to finish a novel. The solution? Write some flash fiction (a short story 1,000 words or less). […]