author
99% of all writing advice is just inspirational nonsense. Most of it boils down to "sing the story inside of you!" or "don't give up on your dreams!" If you're a writer, you don't need to be told this. If you have the bug, you're going to write and nothing, not even self-interest, will stop …
Continue reading "Bad Writing Advice: “Write What You Know”"
I heard a podcast recently where the guest talked about the Magical Realist novel he was working on. The host asked, "is that just a fantasy novel but you don't want to admit you like geek stuff?" The guest laughed and admitted that was pretty much accurate. Similarly, you hear a lot of people go …
Tone is the psychological setting of your story. It establishes the ethos of your world, that is to say the prevailing philosophy. It is one of the key elements in giving weight and gravity to your story. It's also very easy to get wrong. Wild tone shifts are a problem, of course, though if handled …
We're often told that comedy appeals to our intellectual side--our appreciation of wit and timing--while drama appeals to our emotions. Appealing to one or the other is the way to reach an audience, to create a significant effect in the reader's/viewer's brain that will cause them to be entertained. Either we need to laugh at …
“Calling Space Mummy… Space Mummy come in… the galaxy needs your aid once more… calling Space Mummy… Space Mummy come in…” The signal rushed across the ether, bouncing off pulsars and rocketing past blue giant stars. The call that could not be ignored, the call for help! When Space Mummy first heard it, he was …
I want to share a story about one of my failures as a writer. I intended, once, to write a short story about a woman working in an organ farm. A place where brainless clone bodies are grown in vats, so that their organs can be harvested to save the lives of people waiting for …
What's the difference between a soap opera and a Greek tragedy? Both are fictional stories about the suffering of likeable, or at least attractive, heroes. There is an inevitability to their plots--they're not necessarily formulaic, but everyone can pretty much see where things are headed. Neither of them promises nor delivers a happy ending. Yet …
Creating a rich and fascinating setting for your story is fun. It's so much fun. And it can be rewarding, too. The more work you put into your setting, the more detail and depth, the more your book will come alive--if the backdrop seethes and breathes, your characters will feel more real, more anchored, and …
Pacing might be the most important skill a writer can develop. Pacing is the tempo of your story, the sense of time passing, the sense of things happening in a smooth, organic order. Pacing is everything. Pacing is crucial to plot. It's how you build suspense--how you make your reader care about what happens, and …
DAVID WELLINGTON 
You must be logged in to post a comment.