Do I constantly re-write old stories or write new ones?

It's the question that most baffles new writers: do I re-write old stories or write new ones?

This is a question that has even eluded me a time or two.  I have, at present time, five completed novels and about twenty-plus short stories.  For the past few years--aside from my wedding planning ebook, which I launched on April 4th, 2012--I haven't written very much in the way of new stories.  In the later part of 2011, I did write two short stories.  But novel-wise, I have nothing new . . . except for about twenty-five beginnings to novels.

Is there a time when you should just abandon your "old" stuff and write "new"?  I think this could be answered as yes and no.  First, I think if you have a few others read it--and I don't mean your relatives or people who don't even like to read, let alone in the genre you're currently writing in--and they are very critical of it, it might be best to abandon it . . . for now.  Second, if you have a new story that's just itching to get written, go ahead and write it.

A lot of this depends on you.  Each writer is different.  If you've been editing a novel for the past ten years or so, it might be best to try your hand at a new story.  There's nothing that says you can't go back to it.  I have a few stories that are going to sit on the backburner for at least five years or more.  Will I go back to them though?  Yes.  But not now.

When writing, the devil is in the details

What's wrong with this sentence?

"Mitchell grabbed the Glock .45-caliber, cocked backed the hammer, and aimed."

Do you see it?

How can you cock back the hammer on a Glock?  Glocks don't have hammers--at least, ones that you can see.

I read a similar passage by a very well-known thriller writer and nearly threw the book in the garbage.  I couldn't believe what I was reading.

When writing, the smallest details can be picked up by someone if they're familiar with it.  I'm no expert in firearms, but I know enough to see the difference.

Sometimes, as they say, the devil is in the details.  Put just enough details in the descriptions to make it interesting, yet don't worry about over-describing something to the point where it's a research paper on that particular thing.

What topics would you like to see covered?

I've been writing and writing for so long now, and I want to take this day to ask what topics you'd like to see covered?

The basics of writing?

Topics in specific genres, like fantasy, thrillers, or horror?

More on the business of writing?

Please comment below what you'd like to see in upcoming blogs or e-mail me your ideas at phazerpub@yahoo.com.  Happy writing!

Writing Prompt Wednesday - Episode #20

In a continuation of last week's writing prompt, let's take the same scenario except in reverse: you open your e-mail browser, only to find an e-mail directed towards your spouse from an old "friend."

Happy writing.

What I did wrong with the use of flashbacks in my first novel.

Keeping on task with our talk about flashbacks, let me be the first to admit that in my first novel--the deer hunting horror story I wrote back in college--I used a lot of flashbacks.  And I mean a lot.  In the first three chapters!

The bulk of the book was relatively flashback-free, but I used up my store of flashbacks in the first three chapters, with three alone in the first chapter.

A huge no-no!

Okay, I know this now, but I didn't then.

In the editing process, I've eliminated most of them from these chapters and have sprinkled a few to later chapters.  When I plan on going through this book again--when, I have no idea, but it's fair to say that it'll be years before that book will ever see publication--I'll chop it up even more and strike . . . well, all of them.  Looking at it now, all of the flashbacks I used were amateurish and completely useless to the telling of the story.

To use a flashback . . . or not. That is the question.

Much debate has been used on the use of flashbacks.

Flashbacks, for the most part, are seen as amateurish, the mark of a beginning writer trying to be clever in his/her storytelling.

But can it be of use?

The short answer is yes.  Flashbacks, in one form or another, is seen in most books.  Even the mere mention of something in the past could be considered a flashback of sorts--okay, many will think of a flashback as the world around you growing wobbly, swirling, twirling, transforming from the now to the world of then.  Mostly, it's used to establish a past of something.  Could we really read about Harry Potter, knowing he's an orphan, and not wonder what happened to his parents?  Rowling is a genius, though, for not delving too much into Harry's past.  She establishes that they're dead, it was tragic, and moves on.

If a flashback is really needed to tell about one's past, try this method: tell the story at the beginning, chronologically, and then we'll see it for ourselves.  If that doesn't work, insert slices of it throughout your book to pull the reader along.

What is a flashback?

A flashback is a literary device used to plant a past scene into the present scene.

This can, essentially, be done in two main ways:

First, you can use a scene break and bring the reader to the past scene in question.

Second, if it's part of the dialogue, the speaker can tell about the past event.

I'm sure there are other ways I haven't thought of, or offshoots of these two, but for now let's limit the flashbacks to these.  We'll explore the use (or non-use) of flashbacks in the next few blogs.  In the meantime, please comment on whether or not you feel flashbacks are useful.  Also, what is your favorite flashback in a novel?