If there’s one thing that freaks out new writers is how to write the flashback. So many times on the forums they’re told not to write them; to avoid them at all costs. Sad thing is you need to write them sometimes so let’s briefly discuss them.

One thing to avoid is putting them as the opening scene of a novel. That is boring to an agent and that’s who you got to impress first.

From there on, don’t make it difficult to merge it into your main story. Mine are seamless in the Talia novel and are then used to make a mini-scene within a scene and then I merge it back into the main story. A couple times I start a chapter off with them and one time I have an entire chapter that is one that I use to tie the loose ends up between Talia (who is nearly immortal) and her son, who is mortal.

To put it in a nutshell, don’t tie it all up in a single way and stay away from the cliché dream sequence either. There’s tons of ways to add it to your book! Explore them all and see which one fits your style and story.

Note the lie I just made. I’d be fine if my nose wasn’t running like it was in the Boston Marathon. That’s the worse part. I can deal with the headache, sore throat and sinus issues, but the running of the nose is annoying as shit.

It tends to make me lose focus on writing because every time I get one a roll then my nose gets annoying and I have to stop and blow it. How the hell professional writers can keep it up when this stuff happens beats me. Maybe they take the time off and then catch up later. Perhaps that’s what I need to do. Especially since I’m on the last two chapters of the Talia novel.

Who knows. Hopefully, it’ll be ok.

It keeps me from working…

Well, here we go again today. After reading the forums for a minute I stumbled across someone asking about what kind of technology people would create if dumped on a planet with just electronic readers and work tools. Ok…

Why wouldn’t people make the basic technology first: homes, vehicles, roads, etc? This is simple enough that it’s not that hard to think about what would happen. Why would high tech be the first thing they’d make-as some posters said in response. You can’t build high tech stuff without having basic technology mastered first, so the ones that provide transportation, sanitation and food would be highest priority.

See, this is what I mean about writers needing to think. Or, at the least, do a Google search on what is basic technology that a civilization would need to begin. None of its difficult to understand; I just don’t think some aspiring authors want to do any kind of legwork to create their story. Which leaves me with one question: How do they expect their story to be believable if they don’t do the necessary research?

Sometimes I wonder about the future of fiction writing…

I’ve been sitting here carrying out my final edit and read through of the first Talia novel. On the television I’ve got the Syracuse vs Boston College basketball game on while listening to Queen on my Ipod. All in all, it’s been a very calm and relaxing evening while I’ve worked.

See, some writers say they need to lock themselves into a room with their computer/typewriter and not speak or see another living soul. I’m not quite that way. Oh, I’ll go to a different room but I’ll listen to Itunes while I write and who the artist is changes with my mood.

Tonight has been really fun because I enjoy basketball and watching it. Before I got diagnosed with Bipolar I was on track to be a successful coach, so I end up looking at things as a coach would. And the best part? I don’t have to worry about being fired if I make a wrong call! J

Either way it’s a fun night for me and now I’ll go back to work on my Athol novel. Once this Talia novel is finished, I’ll turn my attention to editing the short story that brought the little teen assassin to life. This, I hope, will get published in a magazine, but I’m concerned that at 9.6k words it might be too long. With any luck I can edit it down, but I’m not sure if I can find a way to remove 2k to make it a “normal” short story length.

Today’s song is “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” on the Live from River Platte album.