Posts by Duncan McKenzie
This is a complex question. The business of balancing information and story is always tricky. One good approach is to give minimal information, then bury further descriptions in the course of the...
I think you mean "errors" rather than "errata". A book's errata is usually a list of errors that have been noted and are corrected on a separate page. You don't see errata so much these days—it's c...
You have an ability to write screenplays that even you are forced to describe as "pretty spectacular." Given this, and your dislike of descriptive writing, I can't for the life of me understand why...
Start writing. Don't be so afraid to get it wrong. A writer can get a long way by emphasizing quantity over quality.
The Big Flashback can work, but it's a tired cliché. The general strategy is to open with Louise fighting for her life the grip of the Acturan Octopus Tyrant, then jump back in time to her childh...
Opening extracts or poems give a slightly old-fashioned feel to a book, so if that's the goal, it could work. In Dune, the extracts are a constant reminder that this is a story of an epic struggle ...
It's usually better to plant yourself and describe the character through the eyes of the viewpoint character. It doesn't usually require too much of a change. Carla looked at John's gaunt face...
