Month: January 2021

I hate when characters think in books.

Let me clarify.

I hate when the writer stops the story dead in its tracks so a character can think. It doesn’t really matter what thee character thinks about. It’s usually plot or conflict or character. But, jeepers, it is boring having a character just think for pages at a time.

Sometimes, it isn’t even a character thinking. Sometimes, it’s just the narrator stopping the story to explain something. That’s just as dull.

Characters in books will have think, and narrators will have to explain sometimes. It’s not these moments that I find dull. One of the great things about novels is that they allow the reader to experience a story on so many levels at once. One of those levels is the thoughts and feelings of the characters. This is such a potent tool that movies created voiceover in jealous imitation.… Read the rest “(Don’t) Just Think About It”

Happy A. LEE MARTINEZ APPRECIATION DAY!!

In celebration, here’s some free short fiction. Enjoy!

Grandpa got that faraway look as they drove past the solar farm. “Right here is where I strangled a raider for a can of gas.”

Shane said, “You’ve told us, Gramps.”

His sister Lenore, sitting in the seat beside him, shook her head and smiled. The world was still rebuilding. There were the irradiated wastelands to the south and the dwindling cannibals to the east. But things were better and getting better.

“Saw my best friend get eaten by a giant scorpion there,” said Grampa from the backseat.

“The last giant scorpion died fifteen years ago, Gramps,” said Lenore.

Grampa grumbled. Mom said it was hard to understand what his generation went through. After the bombs and barbarism, when the human race was reduced to pockets of warring tribe fighting over scarce resources.… Read the rest “The Last Days of the Apocalypse”

A. LEE MARTINEZ APPRECIATION DAY!! is approaching. January 12^th, as you’re already aware. In celebration, I’m endeavoring to post a blog a day up to the run up. Have a question or thought you’d like to share? You can reach me at Hipstercthulhu@hotmail.com.

“Where do you get your ideas?”

There’s a list of questions fiction writers hear regularly, and this is near the top of that list. It comes from a good place. Writing fiction can seem like a daunting task, and the most daunting to most is the search for something worth writing about.

This is probably why fanfiction continues to thrive on the internet. It takes a lot of the pressure off to begin with something already fully formed, even if only used as a jumping off point. There is plenty of fanfiction that is just retelling of stories already written, but there’s also lots and lots of variants.… Read the rest “How Do You Do It?”

A. LEE MARTINEZ APPRECIATION DAY!! is approaching. January 12^th, as you’re already aware. In celebration, I’m endeavoring to post a blog a day up to the run up. Have a question or thought you’d like to share? You can reach me at Hipstercthulhu@hotmail.com.

A question writers get asked, especially in these days of franchises and expansive intellectual property domination, is “What existing character / universe / idea would you like to write something for?”

I’ve always found the question fairly complex. I like writing my own stuff. Not just because I think my ideas are cool, but they’re mine, so I can do whatever I want with them. Any existing media comes with its own baggage, and while I know many writers will ignore that baggage in favor of what they want to do, I’ve always felt that was basically cheating.… Read the rest “Other People’s Toys”