Silver Buckshot, Chapter 1

by

Chapter 1. First Handshake

I met Frank just minutes before the first attempt upon my life.

It was a beautiful June day in 1972. I was sitting at my favorite table in the palace library, reading. As usual, I had the library to myself. My servants were supposed to be with me, but they knew I never tattled and took full advantage.

The hush was shattered when a boy walked in, whistling. He caught sight of me and approached, revealing that he could whistle and smirk at the same time. When he reached my table, he fell silent and stood smiling at me. It was a good smile, much better than the smirk. It invited me to smile back, which I didn’t, of course.

He was a handsome boy of about fourteen, a year older than myself. He was tall for his age, with a haircut from the California side of the gateway. This being the palace, he wore a good suit, a fashionable brown one, also from the California side. He had loosened his tie and undone the top button of his shirt, which would earn him a scolding from any adults who noticed.

I liked him at once, which annoyed me. I don’t get along with my fellow children. His likability made me self-conscious in spite of my beautiful blue dress, for I was pale and thin where he was tan and fit. I envied his dark blond hair and light green eyes. Mine are dark brown and dark brown, respectively.

I gave him a cold stare. “This is a library, you know.”

He looked around in pretended astonishment, so I added, “You can tell by the books? At least, I hope you can.”

Read more

Write Stories as if They’re True: Truth is Stronger than Fiction

by
A huckster selling Genuine Snake Oil
Art by rtro.

Writers new to the fiction racket are often confused about first principles. And why hot? First principles are rarely stated fair and square. Or at all.

Here’s one: You can write fiction as if it’s a true story. You can write it as if it’s a fake story. It makes a difference.

Some stories are obviously made up. You can tell from the first few words: “A guy walks into a bar.” “Once upon a time.” Others are more subtle. Some stories are obviously true. And some that aren’t true look and feel as if they are.

This appearance of truth buys you things worth having.

How People Tell Real Stories

The world is awash in published true stories: things that actually happened and are told truthfully, more or less. And you know what? If written halfway competently, truth has the ring of truth about it! Not because of what it says, but the way it says it. In this sense, truth is stronger than fiction. We can use that.

Read more

“Am I Good Enough?” My Instant Cure for Imposter Syndrome

by
That's not the king! It's an imposter!
He’s not the king, he’s an imposter! The Prisoner of Zenda (1952), MGM.

A lot of writers feel like imposters, and not in a good way, like Rudolf Rassendyll in The Prisoner of Zenda. What to do?

Imposter syndrome, obviously, is when you feel like an imposter without actually being one, or at least not on purpose. It not only makes writers feel bad, it makes them hesitate to share their work with readers—the ultimate artistic tragedy! Again, what to do?

Well, several things, but let’s start by recalibrating your expectations. Against all the evidence, we tend to believe that all successful authors write really well: far better than we do. But do they? Let’s find out!

Who’s the Imposter Now? Check out the Bottom of the Amazon Top 100 List

It’s time to take a look at successful books in your niche and see how good the worst of them are. You can do this for free with the Search Inside the Book or Kindle Free Sample features.

Obviously, if you write as well as the worst stories on the Top 100 list, you’re good enough for the Top 100 list. Maybe just barely, but good enough nonetheless. How good is that? Let’s find out.

Read more

All About the Lester Dent Master Plot Formula: Step-by-Step Story Creation

by
Doc Savage #1, March 1933.

Lester Dent was the creator of the classic pulp-fiction hero, Doc Savage, and a powerful story-creation formula, The Lester Dent Master Fiction Plot, published in 1939. I’ve presented it below, fleshing it out where needed with my own commentary.

From here on out, Dent’s words are shown in normal text, while mine are in italics.

The Lester Dent Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot

This is a formula, a master plot, for any 6,000-word pulp story. It has worked on adventure, detective, western, and war/air. It tells exactly where to put everything. It shows definitely just what must happen in each successive thousand words.

Read more