So your story is written. You've sweated over it, can probably recite it in your sleep and want to send it to the beta. Is there something you should look at before you send it?

( “Before you send it to the beta” or “Checking Your Work” )

Author’s Note: Please forgive the shortness of my entry and any incorrect data.  Real life has been hectic; but, as the song goes - ‘these are a few of my favorite thing...’

And now, for a delicate subject. Yes, I mean crossovers. More than anything after Mary Sue/Marty Stu, crossovers make grown fen weep. Many won't read them. Some stories are in fact unreadable. And yet, they are so tempting... Full disclosure: I write crossovers.

( Crossovers )

( It's a little more like Scooby-Doo than the X-Files )

During all the years I’ve been running writing seminars at MediaWest Con and more recently at Eastern Media Com, I’ve found that what the participants most want to talk about is plotting and story. Sure, character and dialogue are important ---crucial, actually. I’ve argued in the past that, when writing fanfiction, if you can get the characters ( Read more... )

( Learn to love the delete button )

drworm has provided us with an exceptionally intelligent and thorough overview of verisimilitude in stories. Coming up next this Saturday is dinahmt.

( Emotional, Social, and Physical Verisimilitude: Convincing Readers and Creating Realism )

Following elijahwildchild's fascinating and exceptionally thorough post on dialogue, drworm is up for this coming Saturday.

I'm posting this for elijahwildchild, who's having problems with her computer.

( Read more... )