It's not how big it is, it's how you use it. And this may be the only time in my life I use that phrase without entendre. What I'm talking about, since entendre is out of the question, is the extra stuff that goes into a story. The scenery, characterization, action and so forth that... Continue Reading →
Why I’m a Human Waver
by Amanda S. Green Before I get started, let me give you a quick update. We've been in negotiations with a certain kilt-wearing raccoon for the release of Kate, but those negotiations aren't going very far. He keeps wanting more pie and a certain evil penguin keeps hijacking the pie truck. Anyway, we are confident... Continue Reading →
Framing your characters
"It's not what you say, it's how you say it" "The frame is as important as the picture" You've all heard things like this, but have you actually stopped to think about what they mean? Don't worry if you haven't: human nature keeps things like this comfortably in the background until you get smacked with... Continue Reading →
The Pantser Body of Knowledge: A Good Climax
Now we've reached the part of the book that governs whether readers will be saying "wow", "meh", or "ho-hum". Obviously, "wow" is the reaction you want. This section, whether five pages or fifty (five hundred is rather overdoing it, and exhausts your readers) must be intense, impossible to put down, and it must seem to... Continue Reading →
The Pantser Body of Knowledge: Plot – or keeping the kudzu out of your pants
Okay, so discussing plot seems out of place in a series about pantsing, but trust me, it's needed. Without it, you'll get kudzu subplots (get me tired and ask me about the Epic with Everything one day), main characters who suddenly take a left turn to Neverland mid-book, or worse. As someone who's managed to... Continue Reading →
Snuff – Book Review
It's probably more like fangirl squee, but never mind. This weekend involved reading Terry Pratchett's latest novel, Snuff. As usual I finished up awed by the man's skill and wondering why I bothered when I can't hope to ever get close to that. Then all the layered bits started clicking together, which means I'm even... Continue Reading →
The Fine Art of Character Torture
by Kate Paulk You've all heard it many times - if it's to be meaningful, your characters have to suffer. I've seen any number of wrong ways to do this, and so far only really found one right way. The wrong... well, it's worth going through some of them, simply because there are plenty of... Continue Reading →
Come to Quirm. We have cheese.
Thanks to those who entered the contest - I haven't forgotten you and I'll post the lucky (?) winner in a future post. Now for the fangirl rave (ahem) convention report. I arrived in Madison, WI after an incident-free set of flights, and as soon as I'd gotten checked in and unpacked headed down to... Continue Reading →
The Writer’s Toolbox: creativity engines
by Kate Paulk This time around I'm going to look at maintaining the metaphorical engines that allow writers to write - and particularly, provide fiction and especially science fiction and fantasy writers, with all the material we could possibly need to spin a tale. That's going to take me into a certain level of... Continue Reading →
Mad Genius Club 