Ten thousand words on the new project (the one I started, then stopped, then--guess what--started again) in a bit more than a month since I started it. This is pretty slow to be sure, but it's much faster than the glacial pace I crawled at for the first part of my previous novel, which took …
Yes, but / No, and
I've heard this many times, and I think it's a really cool way to decide what happens next in your story. Every time you're character encounters a problem, you ask yourself if they overcome it. But the answer should not just be yes, or no and move on--instead it should be a yes, BUT or …
Name one
Name a first person novel where the character isn't annoying, stupid, or an asshole--I'd like to read it. Maybe it's because people never see their own faults, I suppose that's realistic but it's still annoying. (almost) Every novel I've read in first person the character does irrational, stupid, or asshole-ish things, and never acknowledges it …
Chapter titles
Something Borne is doing--which I'm sure is done, but I can't think of another time I've seen it--is giving each chapter a provocative title. I really like this idea and might try it out to see if it fits in any of my writings. A chapter titled 'what I found in [character's] room' for example, …
Be creative
I've started Jeff VanderMeer's new book, Borne, and it is very interesting so far. Although it is YET ANOTHER post apocalyptic story, he is being refreshingly creative with it. The very first thing we encounter in this destroyed world is not a zombie or a mutant person covered in boils, or a band of scavengers …
Jonas David 