Ken Mohnkern‭

@MarkBaker is absolutely correct. I'll add that metaphors occur in more than just sentence structure. Even when you write in a way that doesn't include sentence-level metaphors and similes, your r...

posted 9y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

I thought the obvious answer was this: Have someone else proof your work. No matter how many times I go over my story, a reader will still find stuff I've missed. They'll also find sentences that ...

posted 11y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

Often, sentences that use "thought" verbs tend to provide distance between the reader and the action. This might be intentional or not. Consider your example, rewritten without the "I thought about...

posted 8y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

I once heard from a trusted teacher that first person should only be used when either (a) the main character is someone other than the narrator or (b) the narrator has a unique voice. An example o...

posted 11y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

What I do as I'm discovering my characters is to just write them into scene after scene. Don't worry about whether the scene has anything to do with your story. Put him in an argument with his wife...

posted 11y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

Forget about promotion. Just write your stories. Submit them for publication in journals and magazines. (I much prefer getting my stories into print rather than getting them online.) If you get to ...

posted 10y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

A lot of literary journals manage submissions via Submittable. I've never used it as an admin, but I know you can assign stories to particular readers and it keeps track of correspondence between y...

posted 10y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

Writers read. We read lots of things in order to learn from our betters how they do what they do. Read the instructional blogs and books, but being a reader who picks apart stories and sentences to...

posted 10y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

Look in the collections of stories you have on your shelves. Usually in the back of the book is a list of places where the stories have been previously published. If you're reading the kinds of sto...

posted 10y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

You can provide a signal at the start of each point. For example, the first paragraph can begin, "First, I want to say blah blah blah..." and the second paragraph can continue your point. The thi...

posted 10y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

It's a complex sentence, with a complex structure and many adjectives. I, for one, love a well-constructed long sentence, so I won't suggest breaking it up. Try doing what the midwife does: recons...

posted 9y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

Read a lot. Pay attention to how your favorite authors present dialog. You might find that written dialog doesn't include everything everyone says from when they meet to when they part. It starts...

posted 9y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

Some of us create a character and place him or her in a situation and just write. Introduce another character and put the two of them in conversation. See what appears on the page. Write ten more p...

posted 9y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

You should have someone with proofing and editing skills proof and edit your work. If you have one of those people in your family, then go ahead. A professional editor should be able to put aside ...

posted 9y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭

A writing instructor once told me that first person should only be used if one of the following cases is true: The narrator is not the main character. So we witness the main character's story thr...

posted 9y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by System‭