Here is a great tool for writers: the bus test. It is a quirky way to measure the value and emotional depth of your characters. I do not agree that a reader has to "become" a character. In fact I find that idea preposterous in most cases, since fictional characters are by their very nature … Continue reading Share: The Bus Test
Tag: writing process
SHARE: How to Produce an Emotional Response in Readers
Here is an article by Donald Maass that describes different ways of drawing emotion from your readers. Maass does a good job of explaining the three main methods of showing emotion: inner mode, where the narrator tells us what the character is feeling; outer mode, physical reactions to the situation; and other mode, which Maass describes … Continue reading SHARE: How to Produce an Emotional Response in Readers
SHARE: Dealing With Rejection: 5 Bulletproof Strategies for Writers
This is a pretty good list of strategies for overcoming rejection. This post deals more with freelance and non-fiction type writing, but the same strategies can be applied to fiction publishing as well. This author suggests the publishing cycle can at times be like a "cosmic tennis match." I couldn't agree more. I still think … Continue reading SHARE: Dealing With Rejection: 5 Bulletproof Strategies for Writers
SHARE: Bards and Sages Fiction Score Card
Okay, I think this is pretty cool. Often it is very hard to divine how publishers evaluate the stories they receive. One publisher I have interacted with--including having a story accepted by them--goes out of their way to explain their view of good, acceptable writing (here are comments on the problems of first-person narrators). This includes … Continue reading SHARE: Bards and Sages Fiction Score Card
SHARE: 9 Tips to Become a Better Self-Editor
I stumbled on this great little list of editing tips and thought it worth sharing. Many of these are common ideas, but it doesn't hurt to see them again and reinforce them in your mind. Some of these are basic review techniques, others are larger exercises that function more to train you as a writer. … Continue reading SHARE: 9 Tips to Become a Better Self-Editor
JM Williams 