Category: Fiction Storytelling
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Getting Past the Slush Pile (Writing Tips from a Slush Reader)
I’ve been reading story submissions (also known as “slush”) for the 100-Foot Crow and Diabolical Plots for two years now. It’s always interesting reading unpublished stories (and admittedly sometimes baffling), and it can also be an educational experience. Common Pitfalls… Continue reading
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That’s Not How You Throw a Punch
As I mentioned in my last blog, I’ve read a lot of romantasy recently, and one thing the books all had in common was a clear lack of fighting research or experience. Obviously, this didn’t stop them from being bestsellers—but… Continue reading
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Lessons Learned from Romantasy Bestsellers
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know romantasy (romantic fantasy) is one of the hottest genres right now. In fact, earlier this year, Rebecca Yarros’s Onyx Storm, the third book in the Empyrean series, sold 2.7 million… Continue reading
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How Do I End This Thing? (Writing Strong Endings for 100-Word Stories)
In college, I took a fiction writing class with a professor who had an extremely narrow definition of “good” fiction. It did not include fantasy or science fiction, which he snubbed his nose at. His restricted mindset also included a… Continue reading
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What Do I Call This Thing? (10 Tips for Titling Your Short Story)
Titles are not my greatest strength. However, titles are important. The title is the door to your story’s house, and it plays a key role in marketing your story. While novels get an artfully designed cover to help entice readers, short stories… Continue reading
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Protagonist, Hero, Main Character, Narrator
In most works, the main character (MC) is the protagonist, the narrator, and the hero. It’s a lot of jobs, but someone’s got to do it, and who better than your MC, right? However, this is not always the case.… Continue reading
