Hard Lessons | The Writing Site of R K Athey
Avoid Hooptedoodle
Here’s a nice article from the New York Times on things to avoid when writing. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/16/arts/writers-writing-easy-adverbs-exclamation-points-especially-hooptedoodle.html Quick summary: Never open a book with weather. Avoid prologues. Never use a verb other than ”said” to carry dialogue. Never use an adverb to modify the verb ”said” . . . Keep your exclamation points under control. Never […]
10 Tips for Promoting Your Book
I ran across this article and thought it worth sharing. http://www.writers-village.org/writing-award-blog/ten-top-tips-for-promoting-your-book-from-a-dog The synopsis is – Quality cover Book competitions Distribute bookmarks Use Amazon to its fullest extent – including author bio Get free book reviews Coffee mugs! Do a book trailer (short video) Social Media Quality Editing Posters for events The post comes from Writers’ Village. […]
20 Writing Tips from Stephen King
Check out the entire article at Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers 1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience. “When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that arenot the story.” 2. Don’t use passive voice. “Timid writers like […]
Jim Butcher Videos
I found videos from the Space City Con featuring Jim Butcher discussing writing. This was, by far, the most informative session I’ve ever attended. Part 1 Part 2 by
The Long, Dark Tea Time of the Soul
It’s been over 30 days since I’ve written anything. Sadly, it isn’t because I don’t have things I can work on. It’s because I don’t have the will to plough into any of the three novels I have waiting on a second or third draft. Not sure when this drought will end but I hope […]
A Profitable Little War
Sarge is a character in my latest novella, World of Grey. He starts out a determined hero on Terratech Colony 34 but devolves into a heartless mercenary. Throughout the Hellhounds series I hope to bring the reader into a character most would consider cold-blooded and vengeful. My hope is that you discover the hero within […]
Stephen King on Short Story Writing
Another video I stumbled upon. Stephen is a master of the craft and it’s always a pleasure to hear him speak. http://youtu.be/FIehHxcEuGM by
The Painful World of Grey
There are some stories that flow from your mind into Scrivener like water down a stream. World of Grey wasn’t one of those. I had to beat the flaws out with large, literary hammers. The story started out simply enough. A friend wanted a short story of about two thousand words to go into one of […]
Are Your Characters Chickens or Pigs?
In a breakfast of ham and eggs, what’s the difference between a chicken and pig? The chicken is involved. The pig is committed. I named this blog Hard Lessons for a reason. The rules of writing aren’t always obvious. I started writing decades back as a hobby. I shared my stories and essays with friends […]