KillZone Blog

The Journal: Keep Coming Back

In today’s Journal * Two New Sources of Information for Writers * Topic: Keep Coming Back * When a Story Flows * Of Interest Two New Sources of Information for Writers I found a new source for reliable factual information and informed opinion: Interesting Engineering. One example of their articles is in today’s “Of Interest.” If you write SF, to my mind this is a must-have (free) subscription. If you don’t write SF, it’s still an extremely interesting source of information. You can find it at https://interestingengineering.com/. To sign up for the newsletter, scroll to the bottom and click Newsletter. … Read more

The Journal: The Squeaky Stair Technique

In today’s Journal * Topic: The Squeaky Stair Technique * Of Interest Topic: The Squeaky Stair Technique I’ve long wanted to write a topic about pulling the reader into the story quickly and more deeply by focusing down. That is, writing some small thing that causes the reader or viewer to focus his or her attention down on a fine detail. Doing so causes the reader to lean more closely (or deeply) into the story. In fact, I recommend you use this technique in literally every opening you ever write. The point of a good opening is to ground the … Read more

The Journal: Very Short Post Today

In today’s Journal * Very Short Post Today * Should One Seek A Critique? * Of Interest Very Short Post Today Just not a lot to say, and I’m aware that a lot of the stuff inside the recent topics has been negative. I want to get away from that for awhile. Also, the novel’s coming along, but very slowly. I put down fewer than 500 words yesterday, so I didn’t bother updating the numbers. I feel the novel is (I’m) on the verge of breaking out, but it’s (I’m) not quite there yet. As you might imagine, critical mind’s … Read more

The Journal: Crawl Before You Walk

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Memorial Day * Topic: Crawl Before You Walk * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “[W]e writers are great with imagination, yet we don’t know enough about licensing and copyright to imagine what products could come from our IP.” Dean Wesley Smith “He had just about enough intelligence to open his mouth when he wanted to eat, but certainly no more.” P.G. Wodehouse “It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of … Read more

The Journal: Memorial Day, and Just for Fun, Part 2

In today’s Journal * Memorial Day * Topic: Just for Fun, Part 2 * Oops * Of Interest Memorial Day I hope you will have a safe and happy but thoughtful Memorial Day. I hope you will consider all we still have in this once-great nation and on whose sacrifices we stand. Topic: Just for Fun, Part 2 Matt P. emailed this morning to ask how I would respond to writers “who claims that getting critiques helped them improve their writing and that if they hadn’t, they never would have gotten better.” Note: This topic, including this sentence, is delivered … Read more

The Journal: How to Indicate Unspoken Thoughts

In today’s Journal * Topic: How to Indicate Unspoken Thoughts * Of Interest Topic: How to Indicate Unspoken Thoughts There are generally two major ways to indicate the direct, unspoken thoughts (or internal monologue) of the POV character. Either is acceptable, depending on whom you ask and your personal preference as a writer: 1. Put the POV character’s direct unspoken thoughts in italics to visually differentiate them from narration. (I used to recommend doing this.) 2. Leave the direct thoughts in regular font like the narration. (I now recommend doing this.) Consistency Is Key — whichever way you choose to … Read more

The Journal: A Lengthy Preface and a Reiteration

In today’s Journal * A Lengthy Preface and a Reiteration * Of Interest A Lengthy Preface and a Reiteration Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt is a writer who suffers from a rare disease, an affliction that precludes her from being able to access her creative subconscious or to write from it. (Alicia, my apologies, but I can’t remember the specific name of the disease.) In a comment on “Another Brief Note on Critiques,” Alicia mentioned a few points to which I will respond here. But first a pair of disclaimers — 1. If you are unable to either access your creative subconscious … Read more

The Journal: Reviews and Critiques

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Reviews and Critiques * Speaking of Which * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “As we all know, a reader’s opinion of a book is enormously subjective. The way [readers] approach a story can vary at different points in their lives, or even their day. They read things into it that you might never have intended—and they’re all going to have vastly different opinions about what worked and what didn’t.” Joe Moore, whom I believe is a founding member of The KillZone blog, on why he recommends not reading reviews. … Read more

The Journal: Reader Pet Peeves: Thin Stories

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Also from Kris Rusch * Topic: Reader Pet Peeves: Thin Stories * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “The hardest thing … are the writers whose work just stops. Not because Dean or I got tired of reading them or the writer veered into territory we weren’t interested in. But because something got in the way of the writing.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch (see “Of Interest”) “[Writers] who have long careers constantly work on their craft. They might be afraid — hell, they might be terrified — but they step beyond it.” … Read more

The Journal: Reader Pet Peeves

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * An Important and Informative Post * Topic: Reader Pet Peeves: Preconceived or Contrived Stories * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader. Like a piece of ice on a hot stove the poem must ride on its own melting.” Robert Frost “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” Robert Frost The first item in “Of Interest” links to a very important and informative post. If you currently use video (Zoom, etc.) or audio … Read more