I had another good discussion with my editor as we reviewed his comments on my book manuscript. Another interesting, you-know-it-but-don't-realize-it topic came up: narrative perspective. I generally write in third-person. It's standard form for fantasy, though less for sci-fi. I find most first-person writing to be lazy. It goes back to the age-old adage "show … Continue reading Narrative Perspective: 3rd Person Pure Limited or Limited Omniscient
Author: JM Williams
Author, historian, teacher, veteran. A man full of stories.
Pratchett’s Wintersmith – The Concept of Reader Baggage as Explained Through Sarcasm
I have been working my way through Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Wintersmith. As usual, it is a great tale, well-written with strong characters. One scene has stood out to me as being especially humorous, but also useful as commentary on writing. In the scene, lead character Tiffany—an almost 13-year-old witch—discovers a book on her bed and … Continue reading Pratchett’s Wintersmith – The Concept of Reader Baggage as Explained Through Sarcasm
Green Food
Storm Hamilton was sick of synthetic food; nothing could beat a real, juicy burger, but they were getting harder to find. He especially hated green—anything green—which never tasted like anything more than…green. When did green become a flavor? *This is a response to Three Line Tales, Week Forty-Four
Keeping Track of Submissions
Any good writer knows it takes a lot of work, and many attempts, to get published. I am relatively new to professional fiction writing, but I have started to develop systems to make the process run more smoothly. Below is my method for keeping track of everything. My experience as a staff NCO in the … Continue reading Keeping Track of Submissions
Fireball – One Word, One Story
This is a prompt for the author of One Word, One Story. The word prompt is "fireball." And I'm going to add the rule that it must be a S.F. or Fantasy story, since that's what I do. I sit on the cold stone looking up at the glowing sky. Our once red star flares … Continue reading Fireball – One Word, One Story
Concocting Vengeance
"Is this the one? The one that makes the vampires burn? Good, then whip me up a poison; I have someone to meet." *This is a response to Three Line Tales, Week Forty-Three
Learning, to Let Go – A (very) Short Story
Sparrow looked down at the massive shark lying on the table. It reeked something terrible and she worried how that stench would intensify once she cut it open. She was at the Liminal stages of becoming a true fisherman, but she didn’t know if she could see it through. Of course the older veterans had … Continue reading Learning, to Let Go – A (very) Short Story
The Mountain, Part 2
This is the second part of my historical story that takes place in the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. The first half can be found HERE. Yongchang told his companion that the clearing was very close; both men proceeded cautiously, sacrificing speed for stealth. They heard voices from up ahead, loud and raucous with complete … Continue reading The Mountain, Part 2
The Mountain, Part 1
Digging through my archives, I found this little gem. This was my final project for my second level short story class in college. I remember the instructor because he looked remarkably like J.J. Abrams before Abrams was a thing. We read Revolutionary Road in that class and the rest of my peers were trying their … Continue reading The Mountain, Part 1
The Stranger – A Short Story
I have been digging through the files on my old hard drive and discovered some little gems. This is a story I wrote back in college as part of a short story writing class. Peer-reviewed work from school cannot be any worse than the raw stuff I publish here daily, right? This is the story … Continue reading The Stranger – A Short Story
JM Williams 