I’m a writer who can’t seem to stay with a project long enough to complete a whole novel. I’ve determined to finish at least one of my languishing projects before 2022; to that end, I composed a list of 20 tips for getting it done. Develop a writing routine—even a loose and flexible writing routine…
Author: Ann Gordon
The Long and the Short of It
The Short Story: I write short stories because that’s how stories come to me: vivid, brimming with life, but short. I’ll be frying an egg or replanting a philodendron or washing a window and voila—a scene or story pops full-blown into my head, complete with backdrop, character, dialog, bit players, and a bit of arc….
Character Growth
After listening to a speaker tout the merits of character growth, I pondered its importance in a short story. I published quite a few stories before realizing I hadn’t considered whether any of my characters actually “grew” or not. I puzzled over my working cadre of short stories and asked myself if any of those…
The Five-Year Song
While trolling through Twitter one day I ran across a post by an Australian songwriter. The songwriter called himself SpaceMarch and he had 252,000 Twitter followers (nice). I didn’t know what I might have in common with someone who writes lyrics, but I began to read his posts. The Brainstorm… and then Nothing I particularly…
Giving Readers a Chance to Pause
Ah, yes—punctuation: The writing tool that grammar Nazis love to wield and many writers want to wish away. Trends English punctuation rules have largely remained the same over recent centuries, although punctuation does go through significant trends. For instance, during the 1600s most English writers used semicolons every time they wanted the reader to pause…