Tag Archives: fiction

Fitting the Planks

Posted on February 16, 2023 by midiguru

Just a quick note about world-building, and I’m pretty sure it applies equally well to science fiction and fantasy. (Not surprising, since science fiction is actually a subgenre within the fantasy genre.) Whenever you introduce an element into your story … Continue reading →

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Black Hearts & Daggers

Posted on February 12, 2023 by midiguru

The modern mystery genre embraces several distinct subgenres — the police procedural, the cozy, the thriller, the crime caper, the classic whodunit, and maybe a couple others that I’m forgetting. All of them are somewhat formulaic, so if you’re going … Continue reading →

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The Epic

Posted on February 2, 2023 by midiguru

Being, at the moment, too distracted by some health issues to tackle any creative work of my own, I thought to fill the idle hours (which is most of them) by reading Tad Williams’s massive series called Memory, Sorrow, and … Continue reading →

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The Tyranny of the Elevator Pitch

Posted on January 22, 2023 by midiguru

Amazon offered me a free 30-day trial of Prime. Save a few bucks on shipping, and lots of free movies! What’s not to like? Well, the movies, that’s what. I skimmed through a few dozen thumbnail descriptions and had a … Continue reading →

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The Dreaded Info-Dump

Posted on January 16, 2023 by midiguru

The opening pages of novels written in the 19th century and before were often quite leisurely. The village where the action takes place might be introduced. The life history of the lead character’s grandfather might be briefly described. This kind … Continue reading →

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The Never-Ending Story

Posted on January 12, 2023 by midiguru

More than once, I’ve rewritten a story. Thought it was finished, set it aside for a while, then went back to it and found ways to improve it. Writers who are making a living writing fiction don’t have the luxury … Continue reading →

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Emotion in Fiction

Posted on December 13, 2022 by midiguru

Letting your reader know what your viewpoint character is feeling is usually considered a good idea. On the other hand, there are schools of storytelling in which it isn’t done. If you’re going for an external, camera’s-eye view of the … Continue reading →

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The Never-Ending Story

Posted on December 12, 2022 by midiguru

Mark Twain once said, “Stopping smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I’ve done it hundreds of times.” Me, I’ve only stopped writing fiction a few dozen times. Done. Finished. No ideas worth writing. Time to play a lot … Continue reading →

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Ghost Stories

Posted on October 25, 2022 by midiguru

No, I’m not going to tell you how to write a story with ghosts in it. What interests me are the ghostly ideas that drift, unexamined or even unnoticed, across the pages of even the most realistic fiction. I don’t … Continue reading →

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Artificial, yes. Intelligence, no.

Posted on September 9, 2022 by midiguru

This morning I had an interesting 90-minute Zoom discussion about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in producing works of art. I expect it to be uploaded soon to the Synth & Software website. Music has always been a collaborative … Continue reading →

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