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Posts by Ken Mohnkern‭

25 posts
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Q&A How many metaphors?

@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

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Q&A What is the best way to generate ideas?

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

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Q&A Should you avoid redundant information after dialogue?

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

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Q&A When should the dialogue reference be written, before or after the dialogue?

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

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Q&A What are some effective ways to gain readers?

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

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Q&A What should I do if I can't properly formulate the personality of one of my characters in my novel?

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

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Q&A Why do literary magazines insist on cover letters?

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

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Q&A How can I stop overusing "I" in my writing?

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

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Q&A Dialogue Writing and Word Repetition

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

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Q&A How to describe a female character's figure without comedy?

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

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Q&A Details: How do you describe a character's clothing in a story?

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

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Q&A Capitalization after use of colon?

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

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Q&A First Person vs. Third Person: Advantages and Disadvantages?

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

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Q&A Is it okay to have my family edit my book?

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

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Q&A How can I catch more errors when I proofread?

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

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Q&A Issue with flow of dialogue

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

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Q&A Can this sentence have the same detail and yet be simple to comprehend?

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

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Q&A How to indicate that another point is mentioned withou explicitly saying that?

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 8y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Where can I find a market for "offbeat" short stories about God's relationship with us?

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 8y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing technique resources

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 8y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Best platform to run an online writing contest?

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 8y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to seek an audience?

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 8y ago by Ken Mohnkern‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do I find flaws in a character I'm building?

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

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Q&A How do I tell my short story?

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

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Q&A "Thought" Verbs: A sign of weak writing or a stylistic choice?

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

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