Another simple mystery plot. This one I’ve got mentally labeled The Lead. A crime occurs. The solver follows leads as though they were a labyrinth. Some of the leads are dead ends. Some of the leads are live ends. One of the leads that looks like a dead end is a live end. The solver keeps […]
Simple Mystery Plots, Part 2: The Lead Read More »
I’m slowly getting a grasp on (some) types of mystery plots. Here’s my first one, which I’m going to call The Mistake. A crime occurs. There are three suspects. The criminal is not one of those three suspects. The solver rotates through investigating the three suspects, and may even form a valid-sounding theory about one of
Simple Mystery Plots, Part 1: The Mistake Read More »
It’s not you, or rather it’s not you you. Every time you want to change a habit, there’s a price to pay. The number of days before you can establish a habit varies wildly. Adding workload to your brain uses a disproportionate amount of calories. The cycle of adapting to change is practically the same one that
Increasing Wordcount Means…All the Drama Read More »
So I’m working on a series, A Fairy’s Tale, which so far is made up of a bunch of loosely related twists on ’80s-style horror novels/movies. Books have rules, right? Things like, “The magic system, if any, is X” or “The main character gets the most POV chapters” or “The writing style in this book has
Breaking the System: When Your Series Sneaks Up on You Read More »
Bone to pick. Not gonna name names, because it’s all too common. All writers have ethical choices to make. Not all stories are ethical to write. But let’s stick with horror today. A story that makes a reader want to die, for example, is an unethical story. A story that makes a reader want to become
How Not to Write Horror Read More »
I’m working on writing better headlines, using info from Copyblogger. Sorry if this gets weird… … Whodunnit? That’s the major question of most mysteries (leaving aside thrillers and suspense for now). And yet, most of the advice about writing a mystery that I’ve read is about hiding clues in your work–one of the least important parts
How to Plot a Mystery in Reverse Read More »
I’m trying to go through the Copyblogger archives, can you tell? I’ve determined that the most valuable thing I can do, from a marketing standpoint, is clearly establish in my own mind what value my writing has for other people. In my most objective, reasoned observations: My writing has no value. None whatsoever. Now, I
SEVEN REASONS TO MILLION DOLLARS AND YOU CAN TOO Read More »
Yesterday’s post, by the way. Far be it from me to be like, “Oh, writing is easy, you can do it in these six easy steps” or “every first draft is a good first draft.” You can’t and they aren’t. Not even if you make the condition that every draft can be fixed–because that’s not
Another Thing About First Drafts Read More »
I’m just going to say it. Not all first drafts suck. But you’re never going to write a first draft that doesn’t suck if you believe otherwise.
A quick POV edit: In short, she thought he was lying. In short, he was probably lying. They mean the same thing. But the first one comes from outside “her” head. The second one is what “she” is more likely to think. “He’s probably lying,” she thought. Versus “I thought he was lying,” she thought.
Quick POV Edit to Consider Read More »
