writing advice – One Lazy Robot

Setting the Scene Pacing your story so that the action rises and falls all at the key moments is difficult. An entire weekend long masterclass could be dedicated to this singular aspect of storytelling, because there are (simply put) a metric-fuck-ton of ways to screw up your story’s pacing. Now don’t stress out if you’re…

Use body language to tell a better story. It’s not about what you say. It’s about how you say it. This is just as true in your day-to-day interactions with friends, loved ones, enemies, and sentient sponges as it is in your fiction. To add a layer of spice, depth, and subtle realism to your…

Chuck Wendig is a septic-dumpster fire I absolutely can’t get enough of. If you’ve spent any time wandering the One Lazy Robot halls, you’ll know by now that I have a bit of a writer crush on the bearded cantaloupe. I’ve followed his career for the better part of five years now, which has been…

You don’t have to be a great writer to tell a great story…but it certainly helps. By great writing here, I’m not talking about your ability to craft elegant sentences, or to convey poignant, other-worldly thoughts. No, I’m talking about what some of the all-time great suspense writers have learned. That is, to tell the…

I’ve lived a life defined by fleeting passions. Or phases as one of my best friends recently put it. There was the chess, and martial arts, and long distance running, and snowboarding, and writing, and Starcraft, and poker, and rock climbing, and writing, and… Activities that I became absolutely obsessed with, pouring immense quantities of…

Failing Is Necessary Nobody likes failing. Some people claim to love it, but I remain unconvinced that they are in fact entirely human. As such, their opinions should be taken with the highest degree of skepticism. But here’s the thing, regardless of how you feel about failure, it is an unavoidable fact of life (especially…

You might’ve noticed by now that I’m super into books about productivity and human behavior. I’ve got some pretty severe ADHD lurking up in my skull, and I figured out pretty early in life that the key to my personal productivity was almost entirely dependent on my ability to create habits, routines, and systems that…

Into the Digital Catacombs We Go I went full Indiana Jones on my writing hard drive this morning. Plumbing the depths of your old content never fails to enlighten. It’s also good if you’re in need of a good cringefest (gotta keep those facial muscles nice and tone, after-all). They say good writing is good…

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″] [et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] Fasten your seatbelts, Buckaroos! Today we’re talking about voice (or perhaps more specifically, STYLE), which is a slippery eel of a topic if ever there were one, so we’re gonna have to come at it all sneaky like from a couple different angles and hopefully one of…

Barbara from the Reading Experience blogged about the power of voice and how it can make all the difference for a reader. She goes through and mentions some of her favorite “voice” authors (and you know, might have mentioned somebody we both know. *cough cough* just sayin’). Barbara is a crazy avid reader, so if…

Posts Tagged ‘writing advice’

How to Set the Scene [Writing Workshop]

Use body language to tell a better story. [Writing Workshop]

The Kick-Ass Writer [Book Review]

6 Tips for Telling a Story That Kills Them with Suspense [Writing Workshop]

4 Cornerstones of the Professional Mindset

The Psychology of Failure

Deep Work [Book Review]

Criticism is an Anal Probe. (Writing Workshop)

Finding Your Author Voice (Writing Workshop)

The Power of Voice