Fiction Articles

Writing » Fiction | By Stuart Brown @ Monday, 11th August 2008 @ 4:35 AM

Everyone has plans to write the great American novel. In fact, most researchers believe that everyone has at least one great story inside them. However, you may be wondering, then if everyone has a great story, how can they get the story out? The key to getting the story out is to organize your thoughts with an outline and get busy writing. Sounds easy, right? It can be. If you use the handy-dandy index card system to write your novel outline. In fact, if you use this easy-to-follow plan,... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Robert Starr @ Tuesday, 5th August 2008 @ 2:21 AM

Every good fiction editor knows that their job is based on how well the author that they are editing knows the fundamentals of good writing. That's not to say that every client you accept as a book editor should have the skills on par with a professional writer, but there are some fundamentals to good writing that should be constant throughout. It's important to remember that the shortcomings that we face as either the writer or fiction editor come to us from all the way back i... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Robert Starr @ Wednesday, 23rd July 2008 @ 11:56 AM

There are two ways that the fiction writer can come to a stop at the end of their work and like most of the other elements that go into a work of fiction, both deserve careful consideration since using either the circular or linear ending determines how well the entire story or novel works. After the long and arduous process of writing the story and making all the structural decisions that the american fiction writer needs to make, the last one is the kind of ending that you want for th... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Robert Starr @ Monday, 23rd June 2008 @ 7:51 PM

Every good freelance editor knows that one of the initial stages of editing text is to check the accuracy of the piece, and that means correcting where necessary the facts and figures as well as the punctuation and grammar. In most of the work that you will do, this is a big part of what the client will expect. However, there is a grey area called style that you'll need to look at as well. Many fiction editor jobs that you will come across will allow for a certain leniency in the ch... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Robert Starr @ Thursday, 12th June 2008 @ 6:48 PM

There are different answers as to why we edit because there are always different people doing the job, and that's why editing means different things to different people. Students will have a slightly different idea about what it means to edit than the office worker will, and although they will be looking for some of the same things in the grammar and spelling, there's variation in what they will want from the content once the edit is complete. The editor of a newspaper is respon... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Paul Turner @ Thursday, 5th June 2008 @ 4:52 PM

If you're an amateur writer, whether it be poetry, short stories, novels or essays, there's nothing like seeing your work in print or on the Internet to excite you and encourage you to continue your work. For many writers, the idea of making millions isn't the driving force behind their passion; instead, the practice of sharing ideas, perfecting a unique style and pleasing an audience of readers that enjoys your voice is more often the thing that keeps you writing. And one great... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Steve Dempster @ Tuesday, 8th January 2008 @ 11:46 PM

Many people take up writing as a hobby or as a more serious undertaking later in life - maybe even after what would be considered by many retirement age. This article looks at one way the older writer can compete with younger rivals on a level playing field. There you are, sitting looking at your finished book manuscript. It's probably taken at least a year - maybe a lot longer - to get to this stage. Now, you say, it's finished! Sorry to correct you here - but it's not. It... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Paul Warren @ Friday, 19th October 2007 @ 5:19 PM

As an author or songwriter, we should not just expect to sit down and be connected with our 'now moment inspiration flow' unless we have been exercising it! Object writing is the writers' set of bar bells to get us in the zone, and keep us primed for when one of those muse moments comes along.After recently doing some songwriting classes with Berklee music professor Pat Pattison I have become a great fan of object writing. What is that you might ask? Essentially object wri... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Caterina Christakos @ Friday, 12th October 2007 @ 7:29 PM

Writing a book may seem like an overwhelming task but it can be quite easy once you take the pressure off of yourself. This book does not have to be written a day or a week. There is no pressure other than what you put on yourself. And there is no sense of failure other than what you allow. Let me explain. Life is full of choices. You can choose to write a book in a day thereby frying your nerves to a frazzle or you can set a more reasonable time period. You can choose to put your work in... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Caterina Christakos @ Friday, 12th October 2007 @ 1:01 PM

The crazy world of publishing can be a scary and confusing place for a new book writer, and it can be nice to get a little bit of guidance on how to navigate around things like writer guidelines, publishing houses,literary agents, and such. While most first time book writers think the hard work was done once they typed the end at the bottom of the last page, it turns out that there is still a whole lot left to do. For those who want to see their words in print, this article will help offer som... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Dustin Cannon @ Friday, 5th October 2007 @ 7:54 AM

Peter Rabbit was a figment of the imagination of the very creative Beatrix Potter. The author was born in 1866 in Victorian Kensington London. Her home was large and sumptuous, her family rich. She was raised with several servants, a shy girl who wiled away many hours of every day by herself. Beatrix Potter learned many artistic things from her governess. She taught the writer about music, art, reading and writing. Her only other regular company was her full time nurse. Beatrix Potter ha... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Steve Dempster @ Thursday, 30th August 2007 @ 9:30 PM

You may well think that the choice of approaching an agent or publisher is academic before you have even finished your book but nothing is further from the truth. This short article discusses the pros and cons of agents and publishers - and which one you should go for. A decision that many writers put off for as long as possible seems to be the one where they decide if they want to get an agent or go directly to a publisher. One school of thought says that having an agent is definitely pr... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Steve Dempster @ Tuesday, 28th August 2007 @ 9:35 AM

Have you ever wondered, as you sit at your keyboard, if there are any secrets to successful novel writing? Well there are - and here are five of them. Remember these secrets and your novel writing will improve overnight! To call the points below 'secrets' is perhaps to invest them with too great an air of mystery, yet it seems that so many words of advice are looked on as 'secrets' nowadays that I thought 'what the heck? Go with the flow - call them secrets. Why ... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Don Alexander @ Tuesday, 21st August 2007 @ 1:38 AM

The story book We Are All in the Dumps by Maurice Sendak illustrates a visual portrayal of two guys, Jack and Guy, who encounter several challenges and end up rescuing a rather poor little boy. The story itself makes you think about several issues and symbolisms. First, the theme of "life is unfair" comes out strikingly when you see that Jack and Guy almost pounce the little boy with the black eye on the head. Then there is the whole issue of "bullying" that takes place th... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Urbain Beck @ Monday, 13th August 2007 @ 5:37 PM

Common wisdom dictates that if a grammatical "mistake" becomes common enough, it is no longer a mistake. The rules of grammar supposedly adapt to real-world usage. Real-world usage aside, the pervasive use of "me and so-and-so" in our culture drives me nuts! It used to be, "George and I went to the store." Back in the old days of 30 or so years ago, if someone said, "Me and George went to the store," the listener would quietly come to the conclusion that... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Dustin Cannon @ Tuesday, 12th June 2007 @ 7:03 AM

Peter Rabbit was a figment of the imagination of the very creative Beatrix Potter. The author was born in 1866 in Victorian Kensington London. Her home was large and sumptuous, her family rich. She was raised with several servants, a shy girl who wiled away many hours of every day by herself. Beatrix Potter learned many artistic things from her governess. She taught the writer about music, art, reading and writing. Her only other regular company was her full time nurse. Beatrix Potter ha... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Christopher Anderson @ Thursday, 7th June 2007 @ 1:58 PM

Short stories have not always found their place in great literature. Thanks to great writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, Anton Chekhov and others, short stories have received great notoriety. Short story writing is a unique art and vastly different than novel writing in form and purpose. Where novel writing is complicated, has many things going on and creates a world of possibilities, short story writing focuses on a quick, powerful impact. Charles May wrote, "If th... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Steve Dempster @ Sunday, 3rd June 2007 @ 5:48 PM

The flip side of the success coin is failure. In our culture, failure has almost become a taboo subject - and yet failure simply means lack of success. Learning from failure to gain the success you want isn't magic - it's called planning. In writing this is crucial, so let's have a look at some pointers. Planning is the key to success in many walks of life and in most careers and writing is no exception. If you are planning who to write for, have the correct target market... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Steve Dempster @ Saturday, 28th April 2007 @ 10:34 PM

If you have decided to write a novel, the story that exists within it extends way beyond the book itself. This 'backstory' is what helps give your book depth: here are a few points to keep in mind about the 'past' of the book you're writing. A novel may encompass any period of time, from an hour or two to many centuries. Yet this span of time, no matter how great, is finite; it has a beginning and an end that coincide with the start and finish of your book. Yet we... more...

Writing » Fiction | By Steve Dempster @ Monday, 16th April 2007 @ 1:05 PM

According to recent surveys, over 70% of people questioned said they would like to write a book. This article touches on three key points that just might help them - and you - do just that! First key point: willpower. Although 70% of people questioned may well have said they would like to write a book, figures aren't available for the number who actually did anything about it. It's an unfortunate truth that wanting to do something and actually doing it are very often a long way ... more...