Activity for Steven Drennon‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
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)	—	about 13 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)	—	about 13 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)	—	about 13 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)	—	about 13 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)	—	about 13 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)	—	about 13 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)	—	about 13 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)	—	about 13 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)	—	about 13 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 13 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 13 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 13 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 13 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 13 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 13 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 13 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)	—	over 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)	—	over 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)	—	over 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)	—	over 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)	—	over 13 years ago

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