Thoughts on writing fiction Archives • SK Figler

Thoughts on writing fiction, Writer's Blog

The Impact of One Word

I'm reading A Lesson Before Dying (1993), a novel by Ernest J. Gaines, and wondering why it took me so long to notice this marvelous work of fiction. Following is a short scene showing how much can be done with a single simple word. That word is "here," and the situation digs into a donation of $10 to buy a...

August 8, 2020 SK FiglerNo Comment

Thoughts on writing fiction

Dash Hammett on Crime Writing

Dashiell Hammett on writing crime fiction (The Brooklyn Eagle Magazine http://www.thrillingdetective.com/non_fiction/i006.html, 1929): What I try to do is write a story about a detective rather than a detective story. Keeping the reader fooled until the last, possible moment is a good trick and I usually try to play it, but I can't attach more than secondary importance to it. The...

May 25, 2020May 25, 2020 SK FiglerDashiell Hammett, detectivesNo Comment

Thoughts on writing fiction

Why I write (#1)

I retired 20 years ago in order to write stories, i.e., novels and shorter works, which I've wanted to do since college. During my gainfully employed years, I wrote nonfiction books and articles, which frankly requires a competitive mindset as publishers demand that prospective authors tell what, who, and why they are competing with. Fiction, not so much, as here...

March 9, 2020 SK Figlercompetition, creating, nonfiction, ZazenNo Comment