I put my fiction writing tips in this blog and also talk about my stories. I have two complete novels out: One Survivor (a space opera) and Silver Buckshot (a romantic urban fantasy thriller with extra banter), and others in the works. This site talks about my stories and also about fiction writing in general.… Continue reading Robert Plamondon’s Fiction
Using Third-Person Objective Right: The Maltese Falcon
For some reason, perhaps a hatred of humanity, when people talk about third-person objective (“fly on the wall”) narration, they always lead with Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants. This is a lousy story. It reads more like an exercise, not one of Hemingway’s better efforts at all, so we’ve started off on the wrong foot.… Continue reading Using Third-Person Objective Right: The Maltese Falcon
Do You Need a First-Line Hook?
This question came up on Reddit this morning. Here’s my answer: Like most writing advice, “You have to have a first-line hook” is wisdom-adjacent while managing to be both wrong and imprecise. Does “first line” mean the first printed line or the first sentence? It’s wrong either way, but pointless ambiguity is a hallmark of… Continue reading Do You Need a First-Line Hook?
One Survivor
by Robert Plamondon Norton Creek Press, 258 pages, ISBN 0981928447. Robert Plamondon’s novel is the kind of old-school SF adventure you love, with competent, strong-willed characters, believable technology, fast-paced action, humor, mystery, murder, betrayal, and a touch of the supernatural, all set against the backdrop of the ruined Terran Empire. One Survivor will remind you… Continue reading One Survivor
How to Amost Use Dialect in Fiction
A (Good?) Example From the Master What’s the big deal about using dialect in fiction? Let’s look at an example from the all-time master of dialect, Mark Twain: “Say, Jim, I’ll fetch the water if you’ll whitewash some.” Jim shook his head and said, “Can’t, Mars Tom. Ole missis, she tole me I got to… Continue reading How to Amost Use Dialect in Fiction