Red Herrings
And how to pickle them I’ve always had a rather foggy idea of what a red herring was, but I[…]
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Category: Tips and Tricks
Five Tips for Short-Story Success: A Guest Post by Judy Penz Sheluk
Join me in welcoming Judy Penz Sheluk to Miss Demeanors! Judy is a former journalist and magazine editor and the bestselling author of two mystery series, several short stories, and two books on publishing. She is also the publisher and editor of four Superior Shores Anthologies. The latest, Larceny & Last Chances, will be available June 18. Today Judy is sharing some wise advice from her long experience with the short-story genre.
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Tools of the Trade
A very Happy Memorial Day to those who served, and those who still do~ I’m spread out over the end[…]
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Prologues: Yes or No?
Of all the tools available to fiction writers, the most maligned may be the prologue. With the possible exception of the adverb and the semi-colon, no other literary device engenders such visceral hatred. Prologues have been called “superfluous,” “tedious info-dumps,” and “a bait-and-switch technique.” Agents and editors, we’re told, hate them. But are they always bad?
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Character Arcs
Signs and portents, my dear readers, signs and portents. Last week, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake was felt all along the[…]
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Is the Road to Hell Paved with Adverbs?
Is the road to hell really paved with adverbs? Heavens! None of us wants to commit a mortal writing sin, and so new writers are advised to ruthlessly cut them out of our writing. Your writing will always be stronger without them, we’re told. But is this advice always true?
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That voice was a deathless song…
Who said that about whom? Of course, that’s how F. Scott Fitzgerald, through Nick, described Daisy Buchanan’s voice in The[…]
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Sense of Scents
Whether it’s a bus belching fumes as it rounds a corner, or the sweet scent at the back of a[…]
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5 Ways To Check if the Time is Right for Your Novel
For the past year and change I’ve worked on a new novel. I loved the story. I loved writing it.[…]
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Three Tips to Inject Life into Your Story Settings by Debbie Burke
When Elmore Leonard advised leaving out the parts that readers skip, he was probably referring to long, boring location descriptions that bring the story to a screeching halt.
But a rich setting is necessary to ground the reader in the story world. Readers want to feel immersed in the fictional universe, experiencing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and sensations the characters do.
So how do you write setting descriptions that people won’t skip?
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