Category Archives: The World of Writing
Brainstorming: Staying Open to Fresh Ideas That Conflict With Your Plan
I’m sitting in Starbucks, taking my few hours a week away from all my distractions, brainstorming my outline/pre-draft for the third book in the Elysian Chronicles Series: The Sword of the Vanir. Today, I’m trying to organize all the notes … Continue reading
Facing Your Deepest Fears – M. B. Weston’s Writing Diary 08/29/16
I’m sitting in front of my computer with shivers literally traveling down my arms. I can’t imagine how my poor character is feeling… Except my character is a Navy Seal. Named Tom… [Cue the excitement from the Elysian Chronicles fans…] … Continue reading
Writing is Hard: M. B. Weston’s Writing Diary – 07/25/16
Writing is hard. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Writing isn’t just telling a good story. It’s telling a good, seamless story within word count, that sounds professional, with good character development, ample adjectives, and of course with impeccable grammar. … Continue reading
#Writing: Adding Action vs. Raising the Stakes
It’s easy to add in a few action sequences to get your story moving, but without raising the stakes for your protagonist, the story might still fall flat. I’m working on the second draft of my urban-fantasy, pulp novella, and … Continue reading
Watching Character Develop – M. B. Weston’s Writing Diary: 10/01/15
I love it when characters start developing right in front of me as I write them. I’ve been working on the Michael Lodestone urban-fantasy, pulp novella, and I’ve been stuck on a few plot points. I used to let getting … Continue reading
M. B. Weston’s Writing Diary: 09/02/15 – Observing Life’s Details Can Improve Your Writing
Observing even the smallest details that surround you in life can help add color and spice to your writing. I haven’t done one of these in a while, and I’m trying to start back up. If you have ever attended … Continue reading
Working With Editors: Eliminate Forms of “To Be” & “Had”
I’m currently working on the corrections my horror/thriller short story, “Blue Lights,” which will appear in an anthology edited by John Hartness. I figured I would write a few posts about some of the things I’m working on during the editing … Continue reading
Working with Editors: Send in Your Best Work
About a year ago, I submitted a short story for a yet-to-be-titled anthology edited by one of my friends, author John Hartness. Hartness co-edited The Big Bad 2, which featured my story “The Witch Hunter“, so we have collaborated before. … Continue reading
Using Character to Fix Plot: M. B. Weston’s Writing Diary 06/11/15
The interplay between plot and character development in a story should be like watching a couple on Dancing with the Stars. It’s so seamless and dazzling that it’s impossible to tell who is leading and who is following. Therefore, it’s only natural … Continue reading
M. B. Weston’s Writing Diary: 03/14/15
Ah the joys of the second draft. During yesterday’s writing sessions, I discovered that Chapter 4 was 20 pages long and 5,000 words. A lot of it was dialogue. Yeah, that’s not going to work in a pulp novel… The … Continue reading