Robert Plamondon's Fiction

Opening a New Scene

Robert Plamondon — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 22:35:14 +0000

When the reader encounters a new scene, the curtain opens on … what? They don’t know until we tell them, or maybe they never know, depending on how badly we messed up. But we don’t want to bore the pants off them through over-description, either. What’s a writer to do? The most important thing is ... Read more

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What Did Chekhov Really Say About “Show, Don’t Tell”?

Robert Plamondon — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 22:10:04 +0000

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. —Allegedly by Chekhov (but not really) Chekhov never said this. He especially didn’t say “don’t tell me the moon is shining.” That wouldn’t have made sense to him. This misunderstanding comes from a letter he wrote to his brother ... Read more

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Using Third-Person Objective Right: The Maltese Falcon

Robert Plamondon — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 03:26:56 +0000

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. ... Read more

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Do You Need a First-Line Hook?

Robert Plamondon — Tue, 13 May 2025 18:38:14 +0000

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 ... Read more

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One Survivor

Robert Plamondon — Mon, 12 May 2025 01:12:13 +0000

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 ... Read more

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