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Pulp writing isn’t quite a subgenre and it isn’t quite a medium. Yes, it once had stylistic and even aesthetic boundaries, but the sensibilities behind those boundaries have outlived them by decades, and pulp is now more an approach to storytelling than anything else. Happily, it’s an approach that has a lot to teach modern authors, and if you can adjust to the pulp way of thinking, you’ll have …
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Genre labels aren’t always useful, but properly utilized, they can help budding authors determine the type of writing they want to bring into the world. In few places is that more necessary than with bizarro fiction, a subgenre of weird writing so unusual that ‘bizarre’ is in the name. That’s why, in this article, I’ll be taking a look at how to identify bizarro fiction and how to use that …
[Read more...] about What Makes Fiction Bizarro, And What Makes Bizarro Awesome?
Naming characters is a mercurial task. Sometimes, characters arrive in your mind wearing a name badge. Sometimes, their name is so hidden that you get the impression they’re only joining your story to lay low. Generally, experimentation is the answer, but I’m not here today to give you tips on where to find names. That’s something we covered in The Definitive Guide To Naming Your Characters, …
[Read more...] about 6 Things Authors Forget When Naming Their Characters
Sometimes, you’re midway through a story and you suddenly realize what you need to change to make it work. A later development requires some earlier foreshadowing, or you need to remove a detail so your new path makes sense. It’s a lightbulb moment, and often the point where a story really comes together for many writers, but what do you do if you can’t make the change? In fact, what do you do if …
[Read more...] about ‘Retcon’: How To Rewrite Details In An Ongoing Series
Like a lot of literary theory, the concept of carnivalesque literature works on a number of levels. The first of these is pure inspiration; it’s a source of striking narratives and imagery that can spark ideas and add to your narrative. The second is as an observation of societal behavior – the carnivalesque describes a consistent model of cause, effect, and motivation that, if understood, allows …
[Read more...] about What Authors Need To Know About Carnivalesque Literature
Most authors who have tried to get published have heard of high-concept fiction, though the concept (pun totally intended) can be a little fuzzy. Let’s talk about what ‘high concept’ means and how you can make it part of your writing repertoire. ‘High concept’ defined The idea is fairly simple: high-concept writing places high value on the story’s concept. I boil it down to these four qualities, …
[Read more...] about What Is ‘High-Concept’ Fiction, And How Can I Write It?
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