Hard Lessons | The Writing Site of R K Athey
Ya Ain’t Talkin’ Right
My copy editor from Flourish Editing returned my latest story. There’s a few persistent flaws that need work, one of which is dialogue. This post and others like it become a check list for the revised draft phase. Yes, I use my blog as a personal notebook. Use ‘said’, ‘asked’, etc. sparingly. Other methods let […]
The Butcher Method and Scrivener
I wrote a previous article about Jim Butcher’s advice on writing. I attempted to carry out those methods in my latest story, ‘The Edge of Space’. Below are a list of my scenes and sequences. Note that this was a story I had already written. I simply added to it to cover Mr. Butcher’s advice […]
My Writing Goal
It’s submission day, the day I turn over my latest work to an editor. Most editors ask a series of questions about your goals for the piece. As I prepare this package, I realize my goals really haven’t changed. Here’s the last response. My goal as a writer is to produce fun stories that are easy to […]
Tools of the Trade – Scrivener
At some point you need to consider the tools in your writer’s toolkit. I’m not referring to tricks for writing engaging dialog or chapter construction. I’m talking about the actual programs and places you go to write. Microsoft Word is the go-to tool for most writing tasks. The Microsoft Corporation did an excellent job with […]
Jim Butcher – On Writing
I recently attended Space City Con. I enjoy SciFi/Fantasy cons for the costumes and characters as well as the ability to meet some of my favorite celebrities and writers. At this year’s Space City Con, Jim Butcher ran a pair of writing classes. What follows here is a summary of my notes. Language Words are […]
Stellar Classification
The following article won’t mean much to anyone not interested in star classification. I’m working on a randomized star sector generator to help give setting information for my space mercenaries universe. Below are a few links I’ve created to investigate astronomy and astrophysics. Astronomers classified stars through an arcane system of letters and numbers. Most stars are […]
Time Marches On
I’ve struggled with what to bring to these pages for a while, deciding to let the blog go and directing my efforts to my Tech Parenting and Gaming blogs. My friend Derek had other ideas. I had hoped to put writing tips here but the blogosphere is full of those from better authors with a […]
Writer’s Blindness
I learned a hard lesson when I began writing with an eye toward publishing. I have one heck of a time finding my own writing errors. You are one of a lucky few if you’re gifted with wonderful self-editing abilities. The rest of us have real issues finding problems in our own work. Why is […]