Setting is something that can be overly explained despite the fact that it is so very vital to a story.  There are countless stories that go into detail upon detail of a certain landscape or the country their characters inhabit or the inside of a spaceship or wherever their story resides.  Yet, this can be off-putting to many readers so it’s important to slowly introduce your setting if its something incredibly expansive. Be it a magical castle or a vast roaming land, these settings can be exciting and fantastic places that have a life all their own, but it’s important not to focus too much on them, rather, let your…

On most subjects you’ll find “How To” books and there are good and bad in any bunch.  However, on some subjects, there is more difficulty when it comes to teaching. You can teaching techniques, philosophies, and even review practices and habits but there are some cases where you can’t make someone great if they aren’t very good to begin with and, for types of art, this is the case.   Writing is one of those things that can be subjective in that two people can read the same thing and one likes it and the other hates it, but when it comes to what is good writing, there are books…

I hate reading what I’ve written, even if it’s an email, because I know what I meant to say and as I read, my mind is seeing what I want and not always what I wrote.  For me, editing for grammar and spelling is a weak point. However, some people are great at this aspect of reviewing but might miss entirely the need to improve the content of their fiction, so this is where other readers, or even a professional editor, can be so very important. Yet, writing fiction requires a lot of work in seclusion or behind a closed door as some writers like to say.  This also requires…