‘Flash Fiction’, (sometimes referred to as a short-short story), doesn’t have a set definition, but is generally considered to be a piece of fiction consisting of a thousand words or less. Certain publications of this medium are even more conservative with the word count, hugging closer to the five-hundred word mark. The word count may...
Voltampsreactive is happy to welcome Audrey Bodine as today’s guest writer. Audrey is an aspiring writer who’s work can be found on her own blog, audreybodineauthor.wordpress.com. Five Steps to Improve Your Writing Reading Whether it’s a pamphlet for self-tying shoes or the latest biography on the market, reading is an invaluable resource for writers....
What do you do when you get writer’s block? What they say: I take a step back, evaluate where I am, and allow myself to see the big picture. What they think: Stare at the ceiling. Watch Netflix. Cry. Is this character based on me? What they say: Haha. Was it that obvious? What they...
Recently, I had the opportunity to put together a book trailer for my novel, “Like Melvin”. This turned out to be an extremely educational experience that opened my eyes to the value of this option for new authors. Here are the three reasons why authors need to create book trailers: Video is a Powerful Conveyor...
Sometimes to figure out how to write correctly, you must see what it’s like to write incorrectly. When it comes to learning what not to do, there is no better example than your run-of-the-mill cheesy movie. When you hear the word ‘cheesy’ in reference to a film, there are certain concepts...
Creating the proper tension for a scene is one of the most difficult challenges a writer can face. Providing all of the proper elements that culminate in a nerve tightening sequence of suppressed anticipation takes skill, precision, and proper planning. When it comes to kids’ movies, these challenges increase tenfold. While adults may be willing...
There is no TV show that quite makes use of fast moving, high level, intellectual bantering as “Frasier”. Perhaps one of the most successful spinoffs of all time, “Frasier” took a beloved character from an equally beloved tv show and built a small and lively world around him. If there is one area where “Frasier”...
When one writes on any sort of regular basis, it’s pretty easy to pick up certain habits. When it comes to putting together a novel however, some of those habits can drag your work to a grinding halt. One of the biggest problems with bad habits is that we don’t always realize we have them....
Many writers will tell you that the most difficult part about writing a story is the plot itself: what should you write? I have long believed that absolutely anything can be made into a compelling story. It all comes down to how you look at it: how can you turn a situation in such a...
Every fictional reality needs anchor points; symbols, objects, or landmarks to remind and reinforce to the audience the nature of the reality you are building in your story. This article acts as a follow-up to my previous worldbuilding post “The Five Levels of Reality”. If you haven’t already had a chance, you can read that...
