On Writing Better Stories:

I am Ignoring the date, so this isn’t a Fools Day blog.

I put a new story on my Thrill or Shiver blog page yesterday. 'The Guillotine' is a longer short story so I put it in the blog in two parts. I put it in first part last and second part first so that you can read it from top to bottom of the page and not have to move around in the middle of the story.

As always, I hope to learn more about writing with each story I put out there. Feel free to point out any mistakes or discrepancies in my writing.

I am trying to become a better proof reader of my own fiction. But I find I still need a proof reader that doesn’t have the story already in their head. It is so very hard to proof read when you already know what is going to happen. It is just harder to find the mistakes when you mind is rushing ahead because you already know what comes next.

I had 'The Guillotine' Part 1 and Part 2 laid out on paper some time ago, and I didn’t stray far from my old writing style when I filled in the blanks and connected the dots.

I have been told to write more dialogue into my stories and I’m trying to break away from the story telling style I’ve been used to relying on. When I tried to add dialogue into this story it got so long I deleted it and went right back to the old story telling style. In my heart I think I am more of a sitting around a camp fire story teller and not a fiction writer as such.

I like to be challenged in my writing thou. So I will try harder in the next story to beef up the dialogue.

I do have a dialogue driven story in the works for over a year now, but I have yet to come up with an ending for it. So it sits un-birthed in the vat of stewing goo called my brain. Maybe it needs a collaborative effort. Who knows?

It will come together when it does and not before.

Until then, I hope you like what I’ve written so far. Tell me what you didn’t like so I can improve the next story. And spread the word so I can get more input. I’d like to improve this writing thing I’m doing.