Choice.
I’ve begun to realise how important choice is in writing. Choices let characters showcase their personalities and effect the plot. The effect of a character’s choices reveals the true importance of that character.
writing
Free Writing App
I was lucky enough to recently stumble across Hemingway Editor, a free online writing app:
The program highlights adverbs, instances of passive voice and long-winded, hard-to-read sentences. I’ve always tried to keep my writing as clear and concise as possible – and I’m no fan of adverbs either – so I’ll be using this as I edit the third draft of my novel. Let me know if you’ve used it before in the comments below !
The Half-Blood Prince Guide to Question Arcs
Yesterday I announced one of my writing articles would soon be appearing on the Better Novel Project. Today, it’s been published on the site! Check it out here. Here’s a short excerpt:
A question arc in your novel can help build suspense:
Suspense: a state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting a decision or outcome, accompanied by apprehension or anxiety.
The desire to know the answers to riddles or mysteries will keep many readers hooked. Let’s look at how a question arc captivates readers in Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince.
The Half-Blood Prince Guide to Question Arcs – Soon to be Published Article!
Hey all! Just a quick note to say that an article, written by me, will appear on the Better Novel Project tomorrow. BNP is a a website that deconstructs popular novels like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games to discover common elements. It then explains how to use those elements to create a great story structure. If you’re interested in what makes a best-seller tick, go check it out!
In the article, I’ll be looking at how you can use a Question Arc to create suspense and captivate readers, looking at Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to see how Question Arcs can be done well. Will link to the article as soon as it’s published!
Choosing your Tense and Point-of-View
The point-of-view of your story and the tense it’s written in has a huge impact on the structure of your novel and feel of narration. Done well, your POV and tense will work seamlessly together to create an engaging tale and believable characters. Done poorly, the reader can be left feeling disjunct from what’s happening. This article is a (very) short introduction to the main POV’s and tenses, as well as tips for using them.
Gretel and Hansel
Gretel and Hansel is a subversive short story I wrote midway through last year. Recently, I did a little bit of editing, cutting down the story to under 1500 words to make it eligible for a short story competition. This story has also been published on Aubade Rising, as well as Protagonize. If you find any typos in the story, or think of anything I could do to improve it, don’t hesitate to tell me :). Hope you enjoy!
Gretel and Hansel are two poor children living in the midst of a busy, dark and dangerous city. They live with their father and their stepmother, who has nothing but contempt for them. So when she takes them out for a family outing, the two children know that something’s amiss.
A subversive take on the traditional Grimm brothers’ story.
Gretel and Hansel
Jed H
There were a lot of things in Emergan that could wake you up in the middle of the cold, snowy night. If it wasn’t a police siren or gunfire, it was the soft, graceful shattering of distant glass or the sound of squealing tires close by. Tonight, though, it was the sound of their parents arguing that woke fourteen year-old twins Hansel and Gretel from a deep slumber. Continue reading
Protagonize
Protagonize is an award-winning online writing community based out of Canada, established in December, 2007. It’s home to over 25,800 members from around the world, one of which, as of today, is myself. 🙂
Currently, I’ve published two short stories on the website, Indoctrination and Gretel and Hansel. I’ve published Indoctrination previously on this website, but Gretel and Hansel hasn’t been published here … yet.
Regardless, I’d encourage you to head on over to Protagonize. In addition to just plain short stories, it also contains collaborative works that you, that’s right, you, can add to.
Are there any other good writing communities/groups you’re part of? If so, I’d love to know.
Indoctrination
This short story was published recently on Aubade Rising, but for those of you who haven’t visited that site (and also because I just can 🙂 ) here it is!
Ikan is a child in the ancient city of Sayil. He desperately wants to be an adult in the tribe, but when his coming of age arrives, will he choose acceptance or his oldest friend?
Blog-Hopping Nomination
Xos Mel, a fellow blogger, recently nominated me for a blog-hopping nomination about my writing process, or lack thereof. Essentially, I’ve been given four questions about what I’m writing, how I write it and why I write it. Read on for the answers!
Continue reading
Like Short Stories, Photography, Architecture, Science and Technology? Aubade Rising is for You!
Recently, as you might have noticed, I haven’t been what you’d call ‘regular’ when it has come to updating this website. This is a little notice to let you know that I haven’t left the blogosphere, but have instead been working on a completely new website. May I present:
Aubade Rising
– An online magazine dedicated to writing, photography, architecture, science and technology.
Aubade Rising is an online magazine dedicated to writing, photography, architecture, science and technology. We have no stringent posting schedule – especially when it comes to things like short stories – as we believe that quality is far better than quantity. We do, however, try to make sure that there’s always something new and interesting for you to look at on the website every time you visit. As our number of contributors grows, hopefully we’ll be able to publish even more quality content on a faster basis.
Aubade Rising was founded by Jed H in the early stages of 2014, but allows users to publish content such as short stories and photographs. If you’d like to submit a short story to us, check out this page. If you have a cool photograph you want to share with the world, then this page is for you.
If you’re interested, click on the large ‘Aubade Rising’ heading to visit the website. It’s been up for just over a month, so doesn’t have too much by means of content, but has already managed to attract 71 views and 27 followers! Over the next couple of weeks, a couple of new short stories by yours truly will be appearing on the site, so if you’re interested in my writing, there’s another reason for you to check it out :).
The Aeon Academy 