Grounding Your Reader
One reader asked me to discuss a bit about what I call “grounding” the reader. Quite simply, grounding is the fine art of letting the reader know what is going on. You need to focus on some basics: Who is in a scene? Where does it take place? What is the major conflict? Those questions […]
Dreadful Hesitations
One of my mentors, the wonderful author and teacher Algis Budrys, wrote an article called “Writing to the Point.” It’s one of the most brilliant and pointed articles on writing that I’ve ever seen, and for new authors, it is well worth reading. I was delighted to find recently that Wordfire Press has reprinted it. In […]
Now Back to the Story
What defines “good” writing when it comes to a story? That’s a question that I have to ask time and again as I’m judging contest entries. You see, there are different kinds of “good,” and there are different levels of “goodness.” One writer has a gift for plotting, another a gift for pithy metaphors. So […]
