Activity for Steven Drennon‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
Answer	—	A: How do existing covers compare to possible new ones? "Don't judge a book by it's cover." We've all heard that, but how many of us actually adhere to it? I believe that is a totally antiquated statement, especially these days when more and more books are being sold online at places like Amazon, where we quickly browse through literally thousands of book... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: I am looking to self publish a book but I don't need everything the sites offer One of the first things you should consider is whether or not you are going to have to pay anything to this local printer in order to get your book "published". If so, then you may want to consider a different approach. Just being able to get your book printed doesn't guarantee that it is going to ge... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	Writing techniques or exercises to improve ability to show rather than tell? Does anyone have any effective writing techniques or exercises that you use to help you focus more on showing the reader what you mean rather than just telling them about? I know I often find myself doing a lot more "telling" in my first drafts, and I'd like to start reducing my rewrites by doing bet... (more)	—	over 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: How much does Amazon make on Royalties earned but not paid? I don't believe there is any way that anyone outside of Amazon could truly answer this. The best anyone could hope for would be to guess or speculate, and that's not what this site is about. As for your comment that "authors selling books in multiple countries could have hundreds of dollars due them... (more)	—	over 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is having a specific town for a setting in a young-adult novel a bad thing? One thing to consider is just how important the setting is to the story. If there are key aspects of the setting that factor into the story, then that could enhance the actual story. For example, "To Kill a Mockingbird" would not have had anywhere near the same impact if it had been set in New York C... (more)	—	over 10 years ago
Answer	—	A: How do co-authors' rights to a manuscript work? As mentioned previously, if two or more contributors are considered as co-authors, they share in all revenue generated from the work. The exception would be if they had signed some form of agreement beforehand that permits one of the authors to act on behalf of the other(s), but this would be a rare ... (more)	—	almost 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to overcome the fact that I can't write long stories? Think of your story as separate scenes. Your idea about writing a novel of interconnected short stories is basically the same thing. Each chapter is a different scene, or a different short story, if you will. Take the time to figure out where you want to go with your story and then start documenting ... (more)	—	almost 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: What can publishers do for me in a niche market? Publishers can do all of the things you identified in your list for you, but the degree of commitment that they apply to each will vary based on a number of factors. If they believe that you have a truly commercial product that has the potential to reach a very large fan base, they will devote more t... (more)	—	almost 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: How can I find short-story spinoffs for my fantasy epic? To expand on the comment by John Smithers, one of the advantages of an epic fantasy is the grand scale upon which your story is built. Usually an epic fantasy either contains a lot of characters or covers a considerable time span. Ideas for short stories can come from either of those two sources (or ... (more)	—	about 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: How can I accurately represent young adult dialogue? One of the things that first came to mind on this is to address it the same as any research you would do for any other novel. If you write a book about a French character, you may have to look up certain phrases in French. If you want to feature a younger character, do some research to get a sense of... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	How can I accurately represent young adult dialogue? There was a recent question that caused quite a stir around here, not so much for the question itself, but more the purpose of the question. That aside, there was a valid question being asked, and it was one that a number of writers may need help with from time to time. Let's say I am writing a youn... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: How do you decide whether to dictate, type out or hand-write a piece of writing? This is one of those questions where everybody just has to go with their own personal preferences. My last choice would be trying to dictate. I tried Dragon Diction as well, but as you have already noticed, the pauses and the less than stellar word conversion rate make it too tedious. I have done al... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is there a good project management software for writers? If you create a user account at Critique Circle, you can gain access to a number of online tools they have available specifically for writers. Below are some examples and the description they provide for each. Manuscript Progress The Manuscript Progress tool can be a great motivational tool, as you ... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: Good examples of fear/terror inducing techniques used with enemies There are a lot of different ways that people can invoke fear or intimidation tactics, but ultimately you will have to decide what works best for your story. A lot of times a group or individual will carry out some extreme act, and from that point on, just the mention of a repeat will be enough to ca... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: So I finished my novel. Now what do I do? This is one of those questions where everyone is going to have a different opinion, so ultimately the final answer is up to you. We can help you consider options, but you have to make the final choices. The options presented so far by Kate and John are very good and get right to the main points: 1) s... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: Bogged Down with Legends of Wind Lauren has some very good advice there, but the one thing I would add would be a timeline. If the stories you already have are tied together in any way, then try to lay them out on a timeline to show the order in which they occur. Even if they are not tied together, as long as they have a common sett... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: Referring to oneself in first vs. third person in online profiles I believe it depends on whether you are trying to be personable or professional. If you want to have the reader feel that they are reading comments directly from you, in a personal manner, then the first person would be a better approach. If your goal is to present your skills and experiences in a pr... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	Is it acceptable for a book to not have a dominant lead character? I saw this question posted in another forum, and it didn't have any responses, so naturally I decided to bring it over here. :) > I realized, 80% of the way through my first draft, that I don't have a dominant, lead character in this book. I believe that I can pull it off, managing carefully to not ... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	How can I break up a lengthy explanation? I have a setting in one of my stories where a character has to describe a very long series of events, giving the history of an object so that others know more about it. This not only provides the reader with the background information they need, but also sets up other characters in the scene for some... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	What elements should be included in a story's setting? I know this will vary depending on the type of the story and the characters involved, not to mention the location itself. What I am looking for is some kind of guideline for identifying different aspects of the setting that should be included when you try to work it into your story. Is there some kin... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	How can this sentence better convey the immobilizing impact of fear? Someone on another forum asked for advice on a sentence she was writing, so I thought I'd share it here and see what kind of responses we could get. The sentence in question is marked by italics. (I think one or two others could use some help as well, but I'll see what you guys come up with!) > Fear... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: All persons fictitious - where to place it? Normally this kind of statement would appear by itself at the beginning of your material. With a print magazine, there are a couple of options. One option would be to place it as small print in a footer on the cover. Another would be to place it by itself in regular print on the very first page insid... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	Other options for "had had"? Although the use of "had had" is grammatically correct, it doesn't read well and seems awkward to me. Take for example the following sentence: > I had had enough of this nonsense and was ready to move on. What is a better alternative to using "had had"? (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: How could my friend publish his Steve Jobs biography? The fastest way to take advantage of the current publicity that is focused on Steve Jobs would be to self-publish your book. You can go to Amazon Kindle to get it out as an e-book and have it available to sell within a few days. If you want to make it available in print format, you can use CreateSpac... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	Source ideas for monsters in a fantasy novel? Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go to get some ideas on different types of monsters that can be created for a fantasy novel? I'm not talking about different variations of zombies or vampires, but rather something more unique and original. I'd like to see some fresh ideas for mosters as a... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	Magazines taking submissions for short stories? Does anyone have or know of a list of magazines (print or online) accepting submissions for short stories? It would be nice if it could be broken out by genre and payment rates (if applicable). (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	How do you develop a strong female character? Are there specific characteristics that one should strive for when trying to develop a strong female character? Is it truly dependent on the genre of the book, or are there certain elements that carry over across all genres? (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	Author's notes: yay or nay? Should a writer include author's notes in their book that either express thanks to the reader or provide background information on the book itself? If so, should these be at the front of the book or the back of the book? To expand on this, is there any specific type of information that should be inc... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	Multiple POVs in a single scene This question came up in another forum, so I thought I'd share it here. Should there be only one POV per scene? Is it OK to go with multiple POVs? An example is a scene with two characters facing off, in a tense situation. The POV shifts evenly between the two of them, and the reader gets to see tha... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Question	—	Write to the finish, or edit as you go? Someone asked this question in another forum, and I thought I'd bounce it around in here to see what kind of responses we get. If you are working on writing a new book, is it better to just write all the way through to the end on your first draft, or should you periodically stop and go back to edit? ... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: Where can I find paying markets for flash fiction? In my experience with self-publishing e-books, I have found that a lot of authors will use flash fiction or short stories as freebies to encourage people to buy their longer works. I also know several people who will sell their self-published flash fiction and short stories at a very low price, and t... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: What are the advantages and disadvantages of digital rights management for self-published authors? As I mentioned in my edited version of the original question, this is a question that was presented to one of the other writer's groups that I am a part of, and I wanted to see what folks here thought of the issue. I thought I would go ahead and share what came out of the other discussion. As it has... (more)	—	almost 13 years ago
Question	—	What are the advantages and disadvantages of digital rights management for self-published authors? DRM (digital rights management) is being used in just about every electronic format, including files used in electronic readers. My question is whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for writers, or does it really matter? Since an author with a "traditional" publishing contract really has no co... (more)	—	almost 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: What disciplines/habits are used to stay focussed on one novel over a long period of time? I have the same problem. What I did to handle it was to start writing down an outline or synopsis of the new story ideas as they came to me. This allowed me to get them out of my head and store them off somewhere for a while. I usually have at least two, and usually three, projects going at any give... (more)	—	almost 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: How do evil protagonists win the reader over in dark fantasy stories? My first fantasy novel was told from the perspective of the good guys AND the bad guys. Each had their own respective goals and when the story was centered around one or the other, the reader was seeing what those characters were doing. My "bad" guys didn't necessarily see themselves as being "good",... (more)	—	almost 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: Writing character cards? For my epic fantasy novel I used index cards to identify some of the key characteristics of most of the characters. This helped me whenever I had to reference a character that I hadn't used in a couple of chapters. I also laid out the cards in a timeline to help keep track of when the charcaters were... (more)	—	almost 13 years ago