Veronica Sicoe - Science-Fiction Writer

Size Matters, Length Not So Much

Vero — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:36:47 +0000

I’m talking about novels, of course. Be naughty in your own time. Each genre has an average expected novel length, and usually for first-time-authors that length is almost a condition. For science-fiction novels, the average length is usually between 90 and 120K, and if the author hasn’t been published before, agents and publishers will rarely [...]

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The importance of protecting our inner peace

Vero — Mon, 06 May 2013 08:32:00 +0000

I’ve never quite managed to take a real break from writing. Not because I write every day (I certainly don’t), but because even after weeks or months of not putting in any wordcount, I still think of my story, my ambitions and all the work I still need to do. Always have. And while it [...]

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The 3 Types of Character Arc – Change, Growth and Fall

Vero — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:23:18 +0000

The main reason I disagree with people who claim every story fits the hero’s journey, is that it’s not the only character arc out there, and it really doesn’t fit every story. While I wasn’t sure why exactly my story doesn’t fit the description when I wrote the post on The Hero’s Journey – My Pros and Cons, my late yet intense [...]

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Confessions of a converted structuralist, or How I realized the error of my ways

Vero — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:10:42 +0000

I always thought I was a plotter, an outliner, a planner. Not a pantser. Not someone who discovers her story while she writes it, but someone who plans ahead and always knows which way the story goes. The premeditated kind. I thought this because I had a scene-by-scene outline of the entire novel as I wrote the [...]

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Utopia and Dystopia – The Many Faces of The Future

Vero — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 07:31:17 +0000

These two extremes of speculative fiction have always provided a stark contrast to modern reality, and have fascinated through their often “visionary” aspects. Anyone interested in science-fiction or modern fantasy has stumbled upon stories that paint the future in a decided color. Such stories always awaken a powerful curiosity in us, and we often close [...]

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Triggers And Taboos In Fiction

Vero — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:30:37 +0000

Always a hot topic, but mostly for the wrong reasons. With triggers and taboos I mean everything from profanity, religion, sex, racism, sexism, sexual variations and paraphilias, mental illnesses and other “common” triggers, right down to pedophilia, violent sexual abuse, sadistic torture, slaughter, cannibalism, and more such atrocities that are rarely discussed in public. The [...]

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Ideal Readers and Why They Are Necessary

Vero — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:10:59 +0000

First, I’d like to cheer on my fellow writers participating in this year’s A to Z Challenge — wish you guys a LOT OF FUN! I’ll be regularly checking out your blogs. And now to the matter at hand. On the wide planes of the internet, an ideal reader is defined all across the spectrum, [...]

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My Ultimate POV Guide – With Graphics And Examples

Vero — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:30:09 +0000

Choosing the right point of view for a work of fiction is, in my opinion, the most important decision a writer makes beside choosing the protagonist. It not only dictates what pronouns to use, and how much of the protagonist’s thoughts the reader gets to see, but also determines the distance between reader & protagonist. [...]

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Guest Post: Author RENÉE MILLER on marketing for indies

Vero — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:30:12 +0000

Here be a guest post by my dear friend and now freshly baked indie author of asskicking, villainlicious thrillers — Renée Miller. She’s known for her bluntness, her intimidating work ethic and her knack for psychopaths. Give her a warm welcome! Renée Miller is a freelance writer living in Tweed, Ontario. Small town life [...]

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The Hero’s Journey – My Pros and Cons

Vero — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 08:55:44 +0000

It’s one of the classics of literature, isn’t it? The hero’s journey is part of almost every genre, it’s part of fictional DNA, it’s a must, right? Well, not in my notsohumble opinion. The hero’s journey is too formulaic for my taste. Not because I’m better, or some equally inane bullshit, but because I don’t [...]

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