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Archive for writing techniques
January 29, 2009 at 3:29 am · Filed under fiction, writing and tagged: author, book, books, fiction, harry potter, novel, novels, short stories, short story, stories, tips for writers, websites for authors, writing advice, writing techniques, writing tips
One of the things that I am working on as a writer, is improving my characters. I feel that your character is one of the many things that grabs a reader and makes them intersted in the story. If a character is to boring the reader will wander away. If the character is to one dimentional the reader will lose interest. Characters need to be created so that they are believable, and so that people can feel a connection with them. My favorite characters are the ones who are so close to life they feel like a best friend; some authors have made me walk away feeling as if I know their main characters inside and out. Characters should breath personality, and they should push the story forward. They should change with the story, and be more than just one dementional.
I have included a few links from people talking about Characterization for this article. The only way to improve on what you are writing is to read about it, think about it, and breath it for a while. Are your characters ready to grab your readers and hold your interests? If not follow these links to writers who can help you…
C.J. Cherryh - Strong Characters
John Hewett- Creating Memorable Characters
Writer’s Village - Character Building Workshop
James Kelly- You and your Characters
Notice how most of these are from Sci-fi Fantasy authors? Yes, I have a love of that particular genre. The thing of it is, characterization is important across the board, and all of these authors are professionals in their own rights. They had to start somewhere, and it was probably with learning how to craft a good story, and how to create a great, person grabbing, must read about character.
January 20, 2009 at 1:00 pm · Filed under fiction, life, writing and tagged: author, book, books, fiction, novel, novels, short stories, storytelling, writing, writing groups, writing help, writing techniques, writing tips
Hi all!
I’m looking for a small writers group to join. This is one of the things that I have not done, but am interested in doing. I was wondering if any of you who write have joined a group and if you have, which ones do you like? Was your experience good? Bad? Indifferent? I’m looking for recommendations! Please comment and let me know your experiences with writing groups. Thanks 
January 16, 2009 at 9:17 am · Filed under fiction, writing and tagged: books, fiction, fiction writing, first person, narrative, novel, novels, second person, short story, stories, story, tenses, third person, writers, writing, writing techniques, writing tools, written word
I wrote earlier about my struggle with grammar, and how I am planning on working to improve it. Another struggle I feel writers sometimes has is what sort of Narrative mode to use in their stories. I often find myself struggling to stay in one style, because my writing is still all over the place. I looked on Wikipedia for some help in Narrative modes, and here is the useful link I found.
Of course, I couldn’t be satisfied with one link, so I googled away for more information. I’m a sucker for the internet and for finding as much information as I can on particular subjects. Isn’t everyone though?
There is also a link to writing on about.com. About.com’s link talks about how to choose a point of view, and deciding what the best point of view will be for your story.
I tend to drop into first person, but I think I’ll be playing with second and third person in the next few weeks just to try and expand myself. (Yes, along with cleaning up my grammar. I’m trying to expand. LOL).
My question to the rest of the writers out there; What tenses do you tend to use in a story and why? I know that a writer has to be comfortable using various styles, is there anything that works best for you? How do you check to see if you are staying in the same tense while you are writing? Please, feel free to respond
