Category Archives: Short Fiction

Writing-Tip Wednesday: Holidays As Part of World Building

Posted on December 9, 2020 by dbjackson

I have written about the holidays a good deal in the past few weeks, but I have yet to address holidays as a topic in a Writing-Tip Wednesday post. Now, you’re first response to this might be, “Well, why would … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Call For Stories, and Submission Advice Revisited!

Posted on December 2, 2020 by dbjackson

I am co-editing a new Zombies Need Brains anthology with my friend, Joshua Palmatier, who is the founder and owner of Zombies Need Brains. Joshua is co-editing all three of the ZNB anthologies this year, which to my mind is … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Goals Revisited Again, End of Year, and NaNo

Posted on November 11, 2020 by dbjackson

That is what the last month or so of most years is about. I want to set myself up to be organized, motivated, productive, and successful in the year to come. First let me wish a peaceful, healthful Veterans Day … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Waiting…

Posted on November 4, 2020 by dbjackson

[11/4 Edit:I went to bed last night thinking all was doom and gloom. This morning I see rays of hope. This isn’t over, and counting votes doesn’t happen according to ANYONE’S timetable. Hang in there folks. We are living in … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: “Pitch Inside”

Posted on September 30, 2020 by dbjackson

In the mid-1980s, my favorite baseball player on the planet was a young pitcher for the New York Mets named Dwight Gooden. Gooden had a meteoric career that was shortened by injuries and chronic drug abuse. But for the first … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Crutch Words — Finding Them and Limiting Them

Posted on September 23, 2020 by dbjackson

Last week, John Hartness, my good friend and the owner and editor at Falstaff Books, posted on Facebook about something he was seeing while editing manuscripts. Many of his writers were starting too many lines of dialogue with, “So…” As … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Short Fiction Anthologies — When Does an Idea Become a Story?

Posted on August 12, 2020 by dbjackson

What is the difference between an idea and a story? It sounds like a basic question, but we have just begun the Zombies Need Brains Kickstarter for the coming year’s anthologies, and once again I am hoping to co-edit one … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: The ABCs of Character

Posted on August 5, 2020 by dbjackson

Last week, I wrote about befriending our characters, as a way of using empathy to improve our character development. This week I would like to continue the discussion of character work by taking a slightly different approach to creating and … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Taking Stock Halfway Through 2020

Posted on July 1, 2020 by dbjackson

As of today, July 1, we are halfway done with 2020. Yeah, I know. It seems like this year has lasted a decade. And it seems like this year has flown. Time is unnervingly elastic right now, at least from … Continue reading →

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Writing Tip-Wednesday: Reevaluating Goals in the Time of Covid-19

Posted on May 6, 2020 by dbjackson

Each of us responds in his or her own way to stress and uncertainty and fear – and there is plenty of all three to go around right now. I have one friend who has been unbelievably productive during the … Continue reading →

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