Are You Writing In First Person or About Yourself?
As you discover your voice, you notice you like to write things a certain way. You use certain words a lot. You employ similar grammatical structures again and again. You regularly write from one point of view. Recently, I've noticed I'm falling into first person...How NOT to Introduce a New Character
Last night, I stayed up way too late finishing Ben Marcus’ short story, “What Have You Done,” in the New Yorker. Short stories like this one are studies in brevity. You have a lot to do in just a few pages.
And the first thing that gets cut is usually backstory.
Six Elements to a Story that Won’t Get You Slapped
Since we're talking about story today, why don't we kick it off with one. As you read, see if you can identify the element of storytelling. I walked over to Tommy and slapped him in the face. “Argh!” he said. “Why did you do that?” “You know why,” I said. Some...You Don’t Forget Stories
How can you get people to remember your ideas? You spend months, years of your life crafting a book that's going to change the world, you publish it to great acclaim, and then you ask a reader, “What was your favorite part of the book? What did you...A Critical DON’T for Writing Dialogue
Elmore Leonard said, Never use any word other than “said” for dialogue. Why? Try reading the above out loud. The “he exclaimed” and “he admonished” and “she cried” become like a child saying your name over and over. Distracting.
The word “said,” though, is easily ignored. You want the attention focused on the dialogue, not your clever use of verbs. In many cases, it’s good to change up word choice. You don’t want to use “quintessential” or “luminescence” too many times. “Said” is a major exception. Let us tune it out. Please.
