Jeremiah Tolbert

On story “hooks”:

The start of a story, its first para­graph, should assure the reader that they are in capa­ble hands.  The begin­ning of the story should tan­ta­lize, not hook, the reader.

On the use of scene breaks:

If a scene break were a phys­i­cal item, it would be an 800-​​pound gong.

Ever since read­ing that line, I now men­tally hear an audi­ble GONGGGGG every time I see a scene break.  Thanks, Nick!  You’ve ruined my brain.

On end­ing stories:

That’s how you end a story: with a) a bang and b) leav­ing the reader hun­gry for more.

These are just small sam­ples of the wis­dom con­tained within, per­ti­nent things I high­lighted and noted in the Kindle app while I read.  There’s so much more.  Nick writes with a com­bi­na­tion of vit­riol and patience that is unique. He has what you might call a “no non­sense” style, and he has a rep­u­ta­tion for being a bit caus­tic.  But he knows his stuff.  He’s one of the best edi­tors (and a fan­tas­tic short story writer as well) work­ing in our lit­tle field today, in my opin­ion, and he puts up with my stu­pid ques­tions constantly.  .

You can buy the book here.  I highly rec­om­mend it.  There were swaths of it I had read, but reread­ing them turned out to be very valu­able.  I read it in one long sit­ting last night, and the ebook is priced affordably.

Next, I’m read­ing a cou­ple of things—Farwell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler and another thing for work.  Chandler’s descrip­tive pas­sages are the best thing.  Ever.  He wins at descrip­tions.  Everyone else is a run­ner up at the county fair.  Of descrip­tions?  Crap. 

See?  He would have said that better.

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Tags: nick mamatas, Raymond Chandler, Starve Better, Writing Advice