Quite the Life (and all in Times New Roman 10pt!)
a recurring character/setting/element anchoring the reader in the story that keeps the reader interested I use throughlines in my own writing and mentioned them previously in Using One-Line Summaries to Write Better Stories and Writing Mentoring. Recent conversations demonstrated confusion; some people thought a throughline is the same as a plot line, some thought a … Continue reading “Throughlines”
(updated from an original post on Goodreads long, long ago…) I debated writing this post for a while. Three things solidified it for me: A discussion about fast paced sci-fi reads. I made a comment and offhandedly shared that my library listed my picks – Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man – … Continue reading “Why I don’t read in my genres any more”
Serious writers and all the authors I know know Strunk&White’s “The Elements of Style,” aka The Little Book. I mention in Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style” I have several copies and all are near my workstations so I’ll be no further than a click or arm’s reach should I need, and I need … Continue reading “Arthur Plotnik’s “The Elements of Editing””
We’re going to build on elements from Using One-Line Summaries to Write Better Stories and Flashback as Story Frame to deal with another story challenge that often leads editors and publishers to stop reading and reject a story: Toing and Froing (To-ing and Fro-ing), something I first wrote about in Quit Stage Directing. Simply put, … Continue reading “Toing and Froing”
I wrote in Great Opening Lines – and Why! (Part 3 – Some Great Opening Lines) that I’d share more great opening lines as I found them. It’s been almost a year since I posted some great opening lines. I’ve read some fine books during Covid, none of them with remarkable opening lines, though. This … Continue reading “Great Opening Lines – and Why! (Feb 2021’s Great Opening Lines)”