Horror

Being a Better Writer’s Summer of Cliche Writing Advice: Show the Monster Last

Max Being a Better Writer , , , , ,

Welcome back readers, to another installment of Being a Better Writer‘s Summer of Cliche Writing Advice. This time, flu-free.

Okay, that may not make much sense if you missed last weeks post. Last week’s was a bit light because I was battling the flu, and it was all I could do to get a basic, simple post up and then go take a nap. Ah well. But it got done! And so, this week, we continue with the Summer of Cliche Writing Advice but now with cognitive abilities back at full strength!

Okay, so if you’ve just stumbled across Unusual Things, you might be wondering what this post is. So, a bit of quick background. Being a Better Writer is a weekly feature that’s fairly self-explanatory: Each week it takes a look at some facet of writing and talks about it, from character development to pacing to genre, with the goal of doing exactly what its title claims and helping those who read it improve their writing skill.

The Summer of Cliche Writing Advice, then, is a special summer feature this year talking about all those bits of easily repeated, cliche advice that seem to follow authors like moths around a light. Little bits of advice like “Show don’t tell” or “Nothing new under the sun,” those phrases that authors new and old hear constantly spouted by a well-meaning public.

But … here’s the thing. A lot of short, easy to recall phrases tend to be oversimplified versions of the originals, to the degree that quite often they’re not as nuanced as the originals, or in some cases have taken on entirely different meanings altogether in the process of being stripped down. Which means a lot of this advice directed at authors? Well, it’s befallen the same fate. Some of it is useful … and some of it can be useful or even flat out harmful, the original phrase so far removed from the short, easy to remember version that its meaning has gone a very wrong direction.

Hence, this series, where we take a look that these phrases and short bits of advice and see what really makes them tick. Are they useful? Good? Bad? What do the really mean?

So, with that in mind, let’s get to it and take a look at this week’s bit of cliche advice:

Show the monster last.

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A Sneak Peek at Unusual Events

Max Books! , , , ,

So after today’s well spent day of writing (~4,800 words so far today), I thought I’d give you guys a freebie. Who want’s a quick look at an excerpt from one of the upcoming stories in Unusual Events?

You? Yeah, I thought you did.

But first, just a reminder to go vote for the July Patreon reward if you haven’t already! And then pledge on Patreon if you want to see it!

Now, that said, let’s give you guys a little preview. This is from the short story Ripper (working title), and, like most of the other stories in Unusual Events, it’s part of one of my existing universes. Except you’ve not actually seen this one yet.

That’s right. Ripper is in fact the first real taste many of you are going to get of Shadow of an Empire, a fantasy western that I’ve been dropping little hints about for a short time. It could be considered an introduction to that universe, but let me tell you, those who read Unusual Events and Shadow of an Empire both are going to get a nifty insight into Shadow. Nothing required to enjoy it, of course, but this is sort of like a precursor/side story to the story happening in Shadow.

Right, I’m sure you’re all getting tired of my rambling at this point. Here’s an early, pre-alpha look inside the mind of someone you definitely don’t want to meet in person. Or know.

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