Month: July 2016

Figuring Out the Middle of Your Story

/ Sonora / Leave a comment

Anyone who has ever tried to write a story has been there: We know how to begin, and we know how to end, but… what about the middle?

I am currently struggling with this problem in my re-write of Marsip, the sequel to Aza. I’ve taken the lamest way to deal with the ‘middle problem’, which is to ignore it and work on a different novel*. I would suggest not following my bad example and saving the option of ignoring your story as a last resort.

Because there are many other ways forward. Continue reading →

Giving Your Work to Test Readers

/ Sonora / Leave a comment

Have you ever spent hours working on a story, ironing out the mistakes, honing it to perfection? Imagine you give this story to a friend who reads it through and says, “I don’t get it.”

No one likes to be told their writing has problems, but everyone wants their writing to be a as perfect as possible. Figuring out the problems in your writing is the first step to improving it, so why are we so against hearing words like, “I don’t understand this bit,” or “you should change that bit”?

Because it hurts– it hurts being told your work needs more editing. Continue reading →