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Recent content by Eric Hawke

  1. Eric Hawke

    Immersive writing, cutting down the word count, and polishing the final draft

    I suggest you go through it all and consider every chapter, paragraph, sentence and word for word looking for anything that can be cut or condensed. It's a lot of work but should benefit your story greatly, making it more focused and better paced. Any cool scenes that aren't actually necessary...
  2. Eric Hawke

    Trying a stab at my own cover

    Not sure what fantasy subgenre the font is trying to convey, same with the woman. It's much more important to be clear on this rather than choosing something that you think looks cool. There's practically no color contrast going on. The titles just kind of melds in with everything else. Not...
  3. Eric Hawke

    Caring about Someone Later in a book

    It would be best to introduce them earlier, but if you choose not to do that, here's a few thoughts. As far as having one of the two bonding with the main character, could you possibly add a particular trait/piece of personal history to them both? Something that have made both of them feel...
  4. Eric Hawke

    What Scenes give you most trouble?

    I always end up with a bunch of info I have to include somewhere. Finding a natural place/scene for it can be tricky. If it gets very "talky talky", I try spicing the scene up with some movement (literal), something energetic going on in the background, even just an annoying stone in the MC's...
  5. Eric Hawke

    Prologue, yay or nay?

    There are good prologues and there are unnecessary prologues. If, say, the first few chapters doesn't represent the novel/series as a whole all that well, then a prologue that does just this, can be useful, so that you can set the tone, and give us a taste of what's to come. Usually in fantasy...
  6. Eric Hawke

    Flashforwards... Cliché and how to keep suspense?

    If you can make the reader ask "but why? how?" it should mean the flash forward works. Maybe, say, during the escape, one of the main characters betrays his friends, leaving us pondering why he would do that. Furthermore, you want to reveal bits and pieces of the answer to this mystery...
  7. Eric Hawke

    How do you handle clashing styles?

    If all the characters in a fantasy story had normal names, that would probably bug me regardless of the naming of the places, simply because I'm not used to it. Then again, first person POV in fantasy bugged me for a while, but it worked out eventually.
  8. Eric Hawke

    Over 300 Ways To Say "Said"

    I only really like said, asked and stuff like whispered, yelled. Anything else, like replied and inquired just seems superfluous.
  9. Eric Hawke

    Revision Woes

    When revising, I think it's important to take a step back and try to look at the story all anew. Don't get married to plotlines and chapters just because you "really like them". It's time to be brutally honest and look at what works and what doesn't. I don't have a lot to add regarding practical...
  10. Eric Hawke

    How do you prefer to name places of interest?

    Consider naming them after historic events/people that (re)shaped the city/place. Such as naming them after a long dead king, a conqueror, a natural distaster or whatever.
  11. Eric Hawke

    How do you choose your characters' names?

    Basically switch around/add/change letter in existing names. Consider the character's personality, and give them a name that has the same "feel". Also, don't give main/secondary characters names that start with the same letter, it can get confusing.
  12. Eric Hawke

    Cover for The Messenger's Quest

    I think maybe the guy's face could be pretty much submerged in shadow, to make him more mysterious/interesting? Also, the strong lighting from behind the trees seem to draw attention away from him. I don't like the color and font of the title. Assuming this is adult fiction, the font's pretty...
  13. Eric Hawke

    Writing POVs

    If you can transfer some of Joe's plot over to Bob, so that it's actually Bob it happens to instead of Joe, it would probably work. That is of course, a big if.
  14. Eric Hawke

    My 'Voice' problem

    If your character's plain and straight forward, how about you make his voice even MORE plain? To the point were it's almost comical, and thus has more of a personality. If he say, has been through a particularly challenging ordeal, instead of going on and on about his feelings, like some...
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