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Ken’s Notes On Writing

#1 No character should exist beyond your willingness to do horrible things to them. If the death of a character doesn’t really matter in the scheme of things… then the character never really mattered at all.

#2 Write everyday. Even if it’s only a few paragraphs about why you don’t feel like writing. By the time you are finished with those few paragraphs, things will change.

#3 No matter how much your main character begs, pleads, or whines… you cannot give in and make him the long-lost twin brother of the Prince. Ever.

#4 When  revising your work, make sure that any changes you decide upon are actually making the manuscript better and not merely different.

#5 Don’t use gimmicks. You story is the star, not your clever uses of dialect, poetic passages, stylistic narrative, or literary prose. Too many writers want to take center stage. Could you please move out of the way so I can see the story please.

#6 As much as you might hope so, leaving your laptop on and letting your cat walk across the keys –repeatedly– does not result in a magical paragraph of grand importance.

#7 Avoid online “critique” groups. Almost all of them eventually devolve into “I’ll read yours – if you’ll read mine”. Unfortunately, the “if you read mine” part of the equation is the only thing the other person cares about. Learn to trust in yourself and perhaps a single test-reader.

#8 Always use The Kiser Method. (EDIT: Improved version coming soon)Not because it’s mine… but because it works. Because it gets the job done.

#9 Believe!

#10 next rule coming soon