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 7y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y 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 9y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y 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 7y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y 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 7y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y 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 7y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Lots of opinions here, but let's look to a higher authority. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, the word after a colon is lowercase, even if it starts a complete sentence, unless it's a prop...

posted 5y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

You have tons of options, depending on the context and the purpose of that sentence: If we already know the scene is at a football field, then "Aiden watched Number Ten running on the field." ("F...

posted 7y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Read non-comedy books. Learn from other authors how to handle those things. (This is how writers learn how to write.) Also, remember that you don't need to describe how your characters look unless...

posted 7y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

To learn punctuation and capitalization, get your hands on a style guide appropriate for your language (or region or company). I have the Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Manual. Also, read a lot...

posted 6y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

I see this a lot in unpublished writing (including my own early drafts): "I entered the room and saw a red couch and a bookcase. I thought it was a particularly nice red. I heard the clock ticking....

posted 6y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

I read submissions to a literary journal. I never look at the cover letters. They probably matter to the editors if the piece gets accepted, but not to us, the initial readers. Keep them brief. Men...

posted 6y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

I've never done character charts. When I want to get to know a character better I put them in a bunch of scenes. They're in a conversation with their boss while they have a stone in their shoe. The...

posted 6y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

It looks like you're looking for readers of your works in progress. My instinct with that was never to use the shotgun method. I've always just sent my drafts to one or two trusted readers. That mi...

posted 5y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

For me, it all has to do with rhythm. Read the conversation aloud. You'll hear where dialog tags feel like they should and shouldn't be. This is one of the ways that reading a lot educates writers...

posted 5y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Redundancy is neither good nor bad. It either works for you or doesn't. In your brief lines, you have a lot of redundancy that, not knowing the context, can probably be removed without sacrificing ...

posted 5y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭