Landscape, Cityscape, Seascape “One of the things that I tell beginning writers is this: If you describe a landscape, or a cityscape, or a seascape, always be sure to put a human figure somewhere in the scene. Why? Because readers are human beings, mostly interested in human beings. People are humanists. Most of them are humanists, that is.”–Kurt Vonnegut
Footprints Of Your Characters In The Snow “Remember: Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations. Plot is observed after the fact rather than before. It cannot precede action. It is the chart that remains when an action is through. That is all Plot ever should be. It is human desire let run, running, and reaching a goal. It cannot be mechanical. It can only be…
When In The Course Of Human Events “When in the Course of human events…” These seven words are the beginning of one of the greatest American documents ever written, The Declaration of Independence. In and of themselves, they hold an eloquence and a power that changed the world. They helped start a war and birth a nation. But not everything in life (or writing) needs to be an event. If our lives were filled with one event after another, exhaustion…