CarmineDauntless

    One of the biggest and most frequently asked questions that I get is this: “How do I write fight scenes as good as you do?” I actually got one of those yesterday, but to be fair, he changed it up a bit and asked, “How do I keep from being repetitive in my fight scenes?” As I typed out my long-ass answer for him, it occurred to me that this was the perfect topic for my next writing tutorial. So, thank you, random dude on FanFiction.net, for the sudden spark of inspiration.    So, fight scenes: So much win!    As with nearly every other writing skill an author has in his/her repertoire, writing fights is a skill

The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to fail. The trouble with most fiction is that you want them all to land in hell, together, as quickly as possible. ~Mark Twain ***** As always, Mark Twain hit the nail on the head. One of my biggest complaints with online fiction is the lackluster characterization I frequently see. Occasionally, I’ll stumble onto a story in which the characters move me on a profound level, and like Mr. Twain suggested, I start to care about them like I would a friend or family member. Unfortunately, 99% of the time, one chapter into most p

One of the biggest troubles plaguing fiction writers is a lack of conflict in the plot structure of their story. Almost every writer has trouble with conflict, trouble that’s all out of proportion to the mental problems the subject presents. You can jot down notes, you can talk intelligently about various parts of the story structure, yet when you sit down to write, your story’s conflict is virtually non-existent. How does this happen? I suspect it’s because when you sit down to write, you have a good idea of what constitutes a conflict, but you also have an aversion to the actual step-by-step development of that conflic

    I think with any characterization there’s a point where you empathize, no matter how much of a deviance his or her actions may be from your understanding of humanity.        ~Benedict Cumberbatch       Today, sports fans, I’d like to talk about a subject that is long overdue: the Mary Sue (or the male equivalent, Gary Stu). But before I can talk about her, I think I should define what I think she is. This is important because the webs are teeming with varying definitions, and my idea of what she is may not jive with other people’s; the definition I see most often calls to mind Mary Poppins – practically perfect in