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  • Tag: word count

    • Why Every Writer Should Write Microfiction

      Posted at 9:00 am by WhitneyCarter
      Oct 12th

      880407114a47afbcd534263797277b39One of my personal favorite types of stories to write is microfiction. Not only are the little buggers challenging to construct, an excellent substitute for free writing and decent stress relief, they’re also lots of fun, especially when several writers are working off the same prompt. Despite not having a universally established word count, you’ve probably tried your hand at microfiction at least once. But if you’re anything like me, you tend to forget these short shorts exist. It’s kind of a hazard of writing fantasy. When we sit down to tell a story, we’re having to build everything from the ground up, to explain not only our characters and what’s happening but their environment and sometimes its history too, and that simply takes a longer story.

      Today I want to make a case for not only keeping the art of microfiction in your repertoire, but also utilizing it frequently. First though, because there isn’t a well established way to identify the word count associated with each name (which includes flash fiction, sudden fiction, postcard fiction and short short stories), here’s how I break it down:

      Microfiction – less than one typed page in Times New Roman 12 point font

      100 word shorts – literally 100 words or less, not including the title

      Short shorts – two pages or less, in the same formatting as microfiction

      Short story – anything over a short short, but smaller than a novella (which is usually between 17,000 and 40,000 words) Continue reading →

      Posted in writing articles | Tagged 100 word shorts, author platform, fantasy writing, fiction writing, flash fiction, microfiction, movels, short shorts, short stories, stress relief, word count, writer collaboration, writer tips and tricks, writer's block, writing, writing prompts, writing skills
    • 8 Steps to Writing Better Fiction

      Posted at 8:38 am by WhitneyCarter
      Sep 15th

      Yeah, I know what your English professor tried to tell you. But if your English professor could make a living writing fiction, they would have been doing it. – Dean Wesley Smith

      once-upon-a-timeWriting fiction is hard, and in some ways is harder than writing non-fiction. At its core, non-fiction is based in finding a unique angle, doing adequate and accurate research and presenting information in an enlightening way. Fiction is all of these things as well, but requires imagination and a more out-of-the-box creative input because a large part of that base you have to make up yourself.

       

      • Even fiction requires research

      Yes, even if your world is a complete fabrication of your mind, you still need to research the mechanics of the things you wish to install, even if it’s just to see how a device’s real-world counterpart works. I usually begin researching about 1/4th of the way into a story, so that I can fact check my groundwork before I get too deep in, and then continue to write and research intermittently. Continue reading →

      Posted in writing articles | Tagged adjectives, adverbs, being a writer, books, fantasy writing, fiction, fiction writing, research, steps to be a better writer, steps to write better fiction, word count, writing, writing a book, writing fiction, writing technique
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      ayslyns.avairy@gmail.com

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