Blog Entries from Mallory

  1. Resume Tips

    I've noticed that a common theme on the Wayfarer's Tavern is job interviews, unemployment, seeking jobs after college graduation, etc. There's even plenty of individual threads devoted to the subject. I know someone who works for an HR department and her job is literally to sort through resumes all day, and I've also had great personal success for landing jobs myself. As such, here are some resume tips. - Leave some white space. This one surprises a lot of people, because generally,...
  2. Writers' Block Cures

    I've seen a lot of blog entries and forum posts about writers' block. I've successfully catapulted myself out of Writers' Block Land many times, and I decided to create a blog entry that's hopefully more helpful than just "try to be more confident and let the ideas flow!" Because we all know that's not useful at all. *Bleck.* Okay. Here is some tangible advice that you can try. We all have our own preferences, and what works for me may not work for you, and vice versa. However, these...
  3. Creating Moods via Sentence Structure

    A lot of people wonder how to create tones via showing not telling. I.e. if a character feels lost, or sad, or calm, how do you express this without a bunch of infodump sentences beginning with "he felt____," "she thought that___," etc? The answer is rhetorical devices. This refers to elements including punctuation; word choice; sentence structure; paragraph structure; etc. You're allowed to break the rules of grammar sometimes (like using fragments as sentences if you really, really want...
  4. Easy Way Out - And how to not come across that way

    I can't judge anyone's story unless I've read it myself. Lots of ideas sound awesome, but are written terribly, so the story sucks. Likewise, lots of ideas seem stupid when summarized, but turn into great stories when you sit down to read them. With that said, though, certain things I hear about make me shrivel up inside a little bit. One of them is when the author's MC is clearly invincible, to the point where no obstacle can actually threaten him/her. After a while, readers realize...
  5. YES, your story idea CAN be unique, dammit!

    There's a common type of post that I see frequently that really, really bothers me. It's not a type of thread; rather, it's a type of response often given to developing writers who are still fleshing out their plots and looking for ways to add novelty. It pisses me off so much to see responses along the lines of "No story idea is truly unique anyway," "Every story idea has been told already, just in a different form," "Everything's just a rehash of something else," etc. If you are the...
  6. How to Convey Backstory Without Infodumps, Dreams or Flashbacks

    My first three blogs have consisted of a "don't seek approval when breaking the norms" post, an anti-censorship post, and a "get off your ass and actually write instead of passively saying you'd like to" post. I plan to use my next few blog posts to give some tips about good writing. Today's topic deals with how to convey backstory information without going into an infodump or flashback. A big part of this refers to the commonly-used "Show Not Tell!!" phrase, of course, but it's more of a...
  7. Don't Aspire - Just Write

    This entry goes out to all of the newbie writers, or to all of the people who have said they'd like to be writers someday. Don't "aspire" to be a writer. Just BE one. If you write actively, even though you'll have lots of improvement to do (we ALL have lots of improvement to do while working on any given piece, although the areas in which we must improve will vary by levels of experience), then You Are A Writer. Congratulations. But if you "aspire" to write, it means you're thinking in...
  8. Speaking Of....

    I, like Thomas Jefferson, “have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Most forms of tyranny can only chain a person outwardly. As Mahatma Gandhi stated, “You can imprison me; you can torture me; you can even destroy this body – but you will never imprison my mind.” A person can be wrongfully searched, or arrested without cause and due burden of proof, or segregated into subpar conditions, but the tyrant cannot actually control...
  9. On Creativity and Independence

    First, let me say that I realize writers, especially developing writers, sometimes struggle with insecurities or worry about whether their story idea sounds interesting. I get this. I'm a firm advocate of writers (and all other individuals) being the master of their own work, hence not seeking validation, and I agree with the content of Cogito's "A story concept means nothing, it's about the way you write it" template post -- but we're all new or nervous at some point, and I think everyone...
Loading...
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice