by L. S. King

tips, ideas, and rants from a writer learning the ropes

Below are articles from L.S. King's writing column, originally published about twenty years ago in the now-defunct online magazine The Sword Review

Writing Techniques

• Point of View - Trust your Senses   Do you have trouble staying in point of view? Or do even wonder what POV you are in? How does one stay in one point of view and not stray out of it?

  appeared 2005-06-19

• Pruning   cutting the dead wood out of your story

  appeared 2005-06-28

• Dagnabbit - Drat that Comma   A gazillion read-throughs aren't enough!

  appeared 2005-07-12

• Not So Suddenly   how to suddenly startle your readers

  appeared 2005-07-26

• First Things First   putting your reactions after your actions

  appeared 2005-08-11

• There Was/Were - Avoid These Bad Boys   why there was/were should be excised from your writing

  appeared 2005-08-30

• From Boring to Better   adding description without narrative infodump

  appeared 2005-09-19

• Those Pesky Details   getting facts straight in a story isn't always easy, but it's worth it

  appeared 2005-10-21

• Say What, er, I Mean, How?   beats, attribs, and dialogue tags

  appeared 2005-11-01

• Tuck, Don't Dump   what to do when you feel the urge to infodump your readers

  appeared 2005-11-12

• Descriptive Verbs   using descriptive verbs instead of -ly words

  appeared 2005-12-04

• Using Speaker Attributions Correctly   Attributions are one of the least understood little devices used in writing, I think.

  appeared 2005-12-18

• Do You RUE?   Resisting the Urge to Explain

  appeared 2005-12-26

• Resist Repetition   avoid overuse and repetition of words and phrases

  appeared 2006-01-05

• Write It Again, Sam   Welcome to the Wonderful World of (re)Writing

  appeared 2006-01-20

• Motivation   making your characters make sense

  appeared 2006-01-31

• Pronoun/Antecedent Confusion - Who Dunnit Mysteries   keep the mysteries in your plot, not your narrative and dialogue tags

  appeared 2006-02-16

• Past Verb Tenses   keeping the past (tenses) in perspective

  appeared 2006-03-04

• Writing Made Easy   Did you know there is a trick to effortless writing?

  appeared 2006-03-14

• Good Crit Partners   few resources beat being a member of a good critique group

  appeared 2006-03-31

• Feelings   Whoa whoa whoa - feeeeeelings! Our stories need 'em.

  appeared 2006-05-01

• How to Get Published   Do you want to get published? Then I have some advice for you: be willing to learn.

  appeared 2006-05-19

• Writer's Block  

  appeared 2006-06-09

• Specific Verbs   bringing your verbs, and story, to life

  appeared 2006-06-27

• From Flat to Fleshed-out   bringing life to your characters

  appeared 2006-08-05

• Talking about Dialogue  

  appeared 2006-10-05

• Passive Voice   don't create a whodunnit mystery

  appeared 2006-12-17

• "Passive Writing"   let's get active

  appeared 2007-02-14

• A Deeper Point of View   ...getting your reader into your character's head...

  appeared 2007-05-26

Formatting and Style

• Don't Annoy Your Editor   study your markets and don't give editors any reason to toss your manuscript

  appeared 2005-11-22

• Speaking as an Editor   two things that really irritate me - and how I can be bribed

  appeared 2006-04-14

• Formatting Submissions   Formatting is not trivial!

  appeared 2006-09-06

• Behind the Scenes   how this editor does what she does

  appeared 2006-11-02