Hard Lessons | The Writing Site of R K Athey
Avoid Hooptedoodle
Here’s a nice article from the New York Times on things to avoid when writing. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/16/arts/writers-writing-easy-adverbs-exclamation-points-especially-hooptedoodle.html Quick summary: Never open a book with weather. Avoid prologues. Never use a verb other than ”said” to carry dialogue. Never use an adverb to modify the verb ”said” . . . Keep your exclamation points under control. Never […]
The Nearest Stars
I enjoy sites like Space.com. Fluffy but fun with enough stuff to hold my attention. It has things like this that inspire story ideas. Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration by
10 Tips for Promoting Your Book
I ran across this article and thought it worth sharing. http://www.writers-village.org/writing-award-blog/ten-top-tips-for-promoting-your-book-from-a-dog The synopsis is – Quality cover Book competitions Distribute bookmarks Use Amazon to its fullest extent – including author bio Get free book reviews Coffee mugs! Do a book trailer (short video) Social Media Quality Editing Posters for events The post comes from Writers’ Village. […]
20 Writing Tips from Stephen King
Check out the entire article at Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers 1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience. “When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that arenot the story.” 2. Don’t use passive voice. “Timid writers like […]
Jim Butcher Videos
I found videos from the Space City Con featuring Jim Butcher discussing writing. This was, by far, the most informative session I’ve ever attended. Part 1 Part 2 by
The Long, Dark Tea Time of the Soul
It’s been over 30 days since I’ve written anything. Sadly, it isn’t because I don’t have things I can work on. It’s because I don’t have the will to plough into any of the three novels I have waiting on a second or third draft. Not sure when this drought will end but I hope […]
A Profitable Little War
Sarge is a character in my latest novella, World of Grey. He starts out a determined hero on Terratech Colony 34 but devolves into a heartless mercenary. Throughout the Hellhounds series I hope to bring the reader into a character most would consider cold-blooded and vengeful. My hope is that you discover the hero within […]
Stephen King on Short Story Writing
Another video I stumbled upon. Stephen is a master of the craft and it’s always a pleasure to hear him speak. http://youtu.be/FIehHxcEuGM by
The Painful World of Grey
There are some stories that flow from your mind into Scrivener like water down a stream. World of Grey wasn’t one of those. I had to beat the flaws out with large, literary hammers. The story started out simply enough. A friend wanted a short story of about two thousand words to go into one of […]
Ya Ain’t Talkin’ Right
My copy editor from Flourish Editing returned my latest story. There’s a few persistent flaws that need work, one of which is dialogue. This post and others like it become a check list for the revised draft phase. Yes, I use my blog as a personal notebook. Use ‘said’, ‘asked’, etc. sparingly. Other methods let […]