Category Archives: Uncategorized

You may recall one or two of your elementary teachers advising you to spell a word the way you would say it. While that didn’t work for knight, it does work for nonetheless. Because this adverb is really a collection of three words, many writers like to spell it as such with a space between each syllable. However,Continue reading “One or Three? Nonetheless vs. None the less”

To engage your readers – whether writing fiction or nonfiction – you’ll need to be utterly ruthless with your own words. In short, you’ll need to “murder your darlings.” You’ve probably heard the axiom before. Though promoted by science fiction writer James Patrick Kelly, the advice is often given to writers of all genres, and for goodContinue reading ““Murder Your Darlings” to Better Engage Readers”

Science fiction stories typically arise from a novum, a scientifically plausible concept that is a “reality” in the tale. The novum might be an mechanical device like robot servants, artificial intelligence, or faster-than-light spacecraft; it also can be a hypothetical idea such as “The Earth is a scientific experiment run by aliens to determine the meaning ofContinue reading “5 Great Science Fiction Novum Writing Prompts”

When writing action scenes, avoiding rear-view mirror descriptions typically is a good idea. In such a description, an object is described only after it’s been part of the action. For example, He slid into the cave hole that his foot had just felt. This type of writing allows the reader to see the setting only after the characterContinue reading “Avoid Rear-view Mirror Descriptions in Stories”

Your name will appear all over your book – the cover, the title pages, the preface, the author’s bio, probably on a at least half of the book’s main text. So before you actually start putting the book together, you might want consider taking up a pen name. There are several advantages and disadvantages of havingContinue reading “Should You Use a Pen Name for Your Book?”

“Why shouldn’t truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.” – Mark Twain “The good ended happily, the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.” – Oscar Wilde “Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson “Fiction is the truth inside the lie.” – Stephen King “Fiction is not a dream. Nor is itContinue reading “Five Great Quotations about Fiction”

Another way to promote your book is through a public appearance at a writing conference. Writing organizations, colleges and other groups offer a wide variety of such programs. Typically, they help writers develop their skills, learn the industry, and make connections. There are number of ways you could make a public appearance at a writing conference:• WorkshopContinue reading “Promote Your Book at Writing Conferences”

All too often self-publishing gets a bad rap as a last resort of authors whose writing wasn’t good enough to be accepted by one of the Big Five publishers. Never mind the long explanation of how big corporate publishing actually is something new, a product of the past century that worked then because the economics ofContinue reading “Many Famous Books First were Self-Published”