fiction writing

Smiling writer with headphones on working at laptop as others behind are criticizing

Do Not Take My Advice! Part 1. The Critique

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My advice on writing? Do not take or give advice on writing. There is no one way to write but the way you write. You will most likely be writing differently tomorrow, anyway. That’s my advice: take it, don’t take it, it’s all the same to me. Aw, come on, …

Dots and Dashes for Fiction Writers

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In a recent critique session, the subject of punctuation arose. Should a fiction writer use exclamation points, colons, and parenthesis? What is the right way to use the hyphen (-), dash (—), and ellipsis(…)? Experienced fiction writers rarely use exclamation points. It has the same problematic effect as typing in …

Paul Martz Named 2022 Roswell Award Finalist

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Paul Martz is administering self-defibrillation after finding out that his story, Dr. Harriet Hartfeld’s Home for Aging AIs, is a finalist for the 2022 Omega Sci-Fi Roswell Award. Prizewinners will be announced during the May 21 awards ceremony, in which finalist stories will be read aloud by celebrity narrators. Attend …

Expert Advice from a New Writer

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Writing advice surrounds me. Everyone, it seems, is an expert. One day, all that information on self-publishing, pitching a story, and writing query letters will come in handy, but for now I feel like I’m drowning in unhelpful advice. Sink with me to the bottom of the writing-advice ocean, where …