Many fiction writers might view grammar as a necessary evil—the tedious checking of commas and semicolons that seems far removed from the creative process of storytelling. However, understanding and effectively utilizing grammar can profoundly enhance your narratives, character development, and reader engagement. This comprehensive guide will delve into seven key aspects of grammar that every fiction writer should master, emphasizing how these tools can transform your writing.
Common Mistakes New Fiction Writers Make
Welcome, aspiring fiction writers! Today, we’re embarking on an epic journey through the treacherous landscape of common mistakes that often plague newcomers in the world of storytelling. So fasten your seatbelts, grab your pen, and prepare to navigate the winding path of literary adventures. I’m Nat Russo, your friendly writing guide, ready to illuminate the dark corners and guide you to writerly success. Let’s see if we can avoid these common mistakes new fiction writers make!
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Writing Without Being Offensive: A How-To Guide.
I saw a question about writing without being offensive in a Facebook writer’s group today and thought I’d share some of my thoughts here. I was a lot gentler in the group. The (paraphrased) question was: “How do you write a character who stands against Christianity without being offensive to readers?” For the purposes of this discussion, replace the word “Christianity” with any topic you think might be a land mine.
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Are You Still an Aspiring Writer?
[Updated 7/13/2020] You’ve been writing for days, months, years, perhaps decades. You have a few pages or paragraphs under your belt. Or, perhaps, you have partially finished manuscripts collecting dust somewhere. But, you just can’t bring yourself to use the word writer. Are you still an aspiring writer? If you answered yes, you’re not alone. You’re wrong. Misguided. Lacking a certain amount of self-confidence and a personal sense of authority and ownership. But, you’re not alone. Let’s talk about a few of the things that might be holding you back from using the W-word.
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How To Beat Writer’s Block in 30 Minutes
Have you ever reached a point where the thought of opening Scrivener (or your document editor of choice) filled you with not only dread, but disgust? Have you ever stared at your laptop and silently uttered the words, “I just can’t even…”? It may not have had anything to do with lack of inspiration! It’s just that you couldn’t bring yourself to take another slog through your work-in-progress. If you’ve experienced any of these symptoms, I’m going to show you how to beat writer’s block in 30 minutes.
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How to Become An Author
Every once in a while, an aspiring author reaches out to me to ask how I did it. How did I manage to accomplish the seemingly Herculean task of becoming a published author of a series of bestselling novels? While the voices of these authors are different, the sense of incredulity and exasperation are all the same. I can tell, through inference, that they’ve asked this question before of countless other authors. I suspect they’ve also received the very same answer I give them. But, it’s an answer they don’t like. To become an author, you write, write, then write some more. And when you feel as if you can’t write another single blessed word, write two instead. “Yes, yes,” …
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Common Writing Myths
There are very few objective truths about writing. I think there are some (you’ll typically suck at first, a strong noun/verb is better than a weak noun/verb with a qualifier, remove needless words, etc). But most of these “objective truths” are little more than common writing myths. There are a host of suppositions masquerading as axioms: – Show don’t tell – Writers must write every day – Writers can’t not write – Never use an adverb – Writing can’t be taught And so many more…
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3 Pillars of Character Development – A.J. Flowers WordPress Connection
While work continues on Necromancer Falling (still on track for a spring release! Yay!!), I periodically stumble upon articles I think will be of interest to our community. This article, “3 Pillars of Character Development” is one such article. And it ends by recommending a book you’ve seen me talk about here! I’m particularly fond of “Pillar 3″… (my version of “and what happened next will both shock and delight you!” 🙂 ) 3 Pillars of Character Development – Achieving Complex and Real Characters While any novel will likely struggle with enough Character Complexity, I find that novels with high-worldbuilding el… Source: 3 Pillars of Character Development – A.J. Flowers WordPress Connection
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Rules and Guidelines
Here on A Writer’s Journey, we often talk about about the rules and guidelines of writing. Whenever the subject comes up, it’s met with a lot of skepticism and a healthy dose of “but I’m an artist!” No, people don’t often say “but I’m an artist!” But what they do say is rarely more than a variation on the theme: “There ARE no rules in writing.” “But <their favorite author> breaks that so-called rule all of the time!” “Hey! You owe me 20 bucks!” I can’t be the only writer who gets that last one. Am I right? Am I right? 🙂 Today over at the Kill Zone blog, bestselling author and writing coach James Scott Bell addresses the notion of …
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Defending Your Style Vs. Being Stubborn
Note: The following article is based on a recent conversation I had with a writer I mentor regarding style. While it’s been heavily edited to read like an article, this is the gist of what I said. There’s an important step on the way to developing your own style and voice as a writer: learn how to write good prose. It may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people think they can sidestep this requirement altogether. Sure, it’s difficult. Anything worth doing is difficult. Anything worth doing will make you stretch, both as a student of the craft and as a person in general. The good news is that much of this process is well-documented by masters of …
