Category Writing
What makes a main character, or protagonist, successful in a story? What tendencies should the writer avoid? This is a huge topic, so I will just suggest some elements I look for in a great protagonist, by highlighting some of… Continue Reading →
If you write romance, or have a romantic subplot in your story, you have to come up with the mushy stuff, or the hot stuff, whether you feel it or not. And that’s hard, excuse the pun. So what tricks… Continue Reading →
K – Klingons on the starboard bow: my most successful fanfic ever and what to include in a hit story
I never expected to write a Star Trek fanfic. I always liked the TV show as a kid, but was in the ‘OK but no great fan’ level of interest. I like SF, but I couldn’t name any specific episode… Continue Reading →
I found a list today that I didn’t know I needed but now cannot live without. It’s a description of every subgenre of cyberpunk. I’ve given some examples, below, but it’s got me thinking about how detailed our fiction categories have become,… Continue Reading →
I love happy endings. I don’t mind hopeful endings, but I really want a happy ending. I want love found, treasure won, bad guys totally defeated, maybe just a hint of a problem to come back in Book Two. But… Continue Reading →
Goals. We are all supposed to have them. We are supposed to be driven by them, inspired by them to peak productivity and massive achievement. But oh boy, working purely to goals can be dull. Goals are like work. Proper… Continue Reading →
Whenever you write, you are generating fresh ideas – or you should be. But how can you come up with new ideas consistently? Everyone agrees, the Muse is dead or never existed, and we all need to earn a living…. Continue Reading →
I always admired Harry Harrison – for his pulp SF, which I loved as a teenager – and his author bio. His bio revealed that before he became a writer, he had a ton of non-writing jobs. ‘Truck driver’ was… Continue Reading →
Ah, description. Beloved of Victorian novelists and fantasy writers everywhere. How I loathe it. What? But why? Because mostly it doesn’t do anything, just sits there looking pretty and forming no useful purpose. It’s wordplay, which for its own sake… Continue Reading →
There are a lot of questionnaires out there for you to fill in whilst building up your characters. ‘100 questions to create an amazing character’ is the usual tagline. Typically a quiz will have several sections for you to complete,… Continue Reading →