Recent content by wresch

If you like contemporary murder mysteries... Small town, transgender, local bullies, and an unknown killer.

Wow. This track wanders far off topic (scholarship apps. Really?). But there is important content here. Ethos, logos, pathos. Let me connect to story writing. Ethos. This person writing the story. Do it trust them? Knowledgeable? Honorable? Leading me in a direction I should follow...

Writing is just telling a story. We all do that. What I did yesterday. What I plan for tomorrow. What is "weird" is that our stories are so long. Think about it. When is the last time you had a conversation that didn't get interrupted in less than two minutes. We rush. We jump from topic...

Several years ago I had a follower climb all over one of my novels. Called me out. Worst part was he was right. I had put the novel out before doing another revision. He motivated me to do a massive rewrite. Did me a favor. Followers/reviewers/commenters - I pay attention. With enovels we...

I write mysteries. I had two readers decide one of my characters was the killer. He wasn't (but might have been). Having two readers take the time to consider who the killer might be seemed like success to me. Or, put another way, reader engagement defines success for me. I mean really -...

Keep trying. Keep writing. Between SH and Draft2Digital, I am getting a good idea of what readers want - and what they don't want. I am willing to learn. Willing to be flexible. Just keep going. Readers are out there.

Can't help you with medieval names, but my goto for foreign names is Wikipedia. I go to whatever country my characters are coming from and ask for a list of their Olympic winners. I get much better names than I could make up . For younger characters, I google a list of current popular baby...

I wish I could give you the source, but Stephen King once published a list of alternatives. Like eight different ways to say - good, or happy, or said. The guy really does try to help other writers. Like I said, I can't give you the source, but it is out there somewhere. I think about it as...

90 readers is more than I have ever seen, and I have uploaded three books here. Congratulations. It seems to me you are off to a good start.

I find this website gives me helpful stats. For this group of readers, I can see what works and what doesn't - for this group of readers. Use the numbers as you will. BUT KEEP GOING.

I write mystery novels, so I have been reading lots of James Patterson (he sells the most). His chapters are tiny. After reading a few of his books, I went back and cut my chapters into pieces. Yes, I was trying to be more saleable (or just readable since my books are free to download), but I...

I also like the idea of starting with an execution. And I like the general situation. My one concern? Character development. I want to care about the characters I am reading about. I think you have thought seriously about the situation in this world. It is an interesting world. Now make...

we generally don't post whole chapters here. But a couple reactions. I would bring in people fast. The world is ending? Don't care. One young woman is suffering? I do care. Give me people first, then the situation they need to deal with. Second - Africa is NOT a country. Until you...

I have put several books on SH and gotten different reactions. Comments? A few. But I can see how many people are taking a look at each book. The numbers tell me a lot. I know that one direction I was taking with a series is going nowhere. So I stopped it. Another book is far more...

Mind if I take another crack at read more? First, reading is something we all love, or we wouldn't be writing, we would be playing video games or watching TV. So, we are going to do it, whether it is bad (simplistic) advice or not. But as writers, I think we might consider how we read. I...