Deborah Chester
Figure out what type of story you want to write and then read as much as you can. Read fiction--not just in your selected genre but all types--and read some nonfiction as well. Read daily. Strive to read at least one novel a week. Look at how stories are put together. How, for example, do writers introduce their characters into the stories? Which approaches grab your attention best? Or consider how writers conclude chapters. Do they always stop with a hook? Or do they close chapters with the viewpoint character falling asleep? Which method do you personally find more effective? Dig into some reference books on writing craft. Not the kind that discuss the author's means of finding inspiration, but the books that serve up real nuts-and-bolts information on putting scenes together and how viewpoint should be handled. Look at Jack Bickham, James Scott Bell, and Robert McKee. Good luck!
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Alex
asked
Deborah Chester:
Hi Deborah! Looking back at the "Spacehawks" series, is there anything in particular you wish you had done differently? For instance, what are your thoughts now, with all your accumulated writing experience, about your characterisation of 41, as you wrote it in the eighties and the nineties? Thanks!
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