Where Normal Need Not Apply
Pitches, queries, back cover copy, and full-length stories all have writing techniques in common. For one thing, they all need a strong opening. We talk about that being a “hook,” something that grabs the reader and pulls them forward to the next line, paragraph, and page. A similar approach works within […]
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In my post last week asking if we can have too much voice, some great questions came up in the comments. I decided to turn them into “Ask Jami” blog posts rather than bury the answers in the comment string. Earlier, I shared ideas on how to use color-coding to check if […]
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In my last blog post, where I shared the “two-paragraph guideline,” some great questions came up in the comments. Rather than bury the answers in the comment string, I decided to turn them into “Ask Jami” posts. Today, we’re talking about how to make sure we’re using all the various writing […]
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Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? Sure. We’ve all overindulged in our favorite foods before. No matter how much we might like sweets or any other type of food, something can be too sweet, too rich, too whatever. In my last post about how to add […]
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It was a dark and stormy blog post. *snicker* We’re continuing to prepare for the January 10-16th Pitch Your Shorts pitch session by tackling the issue of story openings. (Check out Tuesday’s post for everything there is to know about pitching.) While the purpose of a pitch is to get a request, […]
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*Quick Reminder: I hope you’re all getting a 10-60K story ready for the Pitch Your Shorts pitch session coming January 10th.* Most of us have a favorite holiday (or two). Sometimes we love a holiday because of the meaning behind the day. Sometimes we love a holiday because of the celebrations […]
Whether we’re a plotter, pantser, or somewhere in between, we all eventually have to take the time and make our scenes the best they can be. This week I have a guest post at the Girls With Pens blog on how to do that. (Edited to redirect link, as GWP has shut down.) […]
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Wish me luck. I’m about to dive into one of the eternal debates among writers. Which is “better”: a plot-driven story or a character-driven story? If you’re not familiar with the debate, let me explain why this question is so fraught with potential landmines. A common snub against genre stories […]
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Last time, I used the Green Lantern movie to illustrate how not to plot a story. This time, we’re going to look at the Green Lantern characters. As noted before, Green Lantern felt superficial and formulaic. Sure, it’d be easy to say that it was a comic book movie and therefore […]
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I recently saw the Green Lantern movie. I know, I know. The reviews were terrible, but I often enjoy turn-brain-off movies. This fun-but-dumb superhero action flick definitely fit the bill. But the real entertainment came after the movie, as my family and I analyzed why this superhero movie failed compared to other […]
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