finishing your story | Andrew Ferguson

Throwback Thursday: 5 Types of Story Ending

Posted on April 30, 2020 Leave a Comment

Don’t you just hate endings? For me, they’re one of the hardest bits of the story to write, but they’re also one of the most important. Your audience will (usually) put up with a fair amount of uncertainty in the middle of a story but by the time they reach the end, they want their ‘i’s dotted, their ‘t’s crossed and all their questions answered. And who can blame them? They’ve devoted a considerable portion of their valuable time to reading/watching/listening to your story. The least we owe them is a good ending that doesn’t leave them scratching their heads (or worse, venting their hatred for you on Twitter). And so, it is my pleasure to present you with a whistle stop tour of the pros and cons of five common ways to end a story.

Throwback Thursday: How to Help Your Audience Suspend Disbelief

Posted on February 27, 2020 Leave a Comment

You as the writer have a responsibility to write a story which makes it easy for the audience to suspend their disbelief…. The issue is not one of what is possible. The issue is of what is likely.

Using Google Docs for Writing Fiction

Posted on December 1, 2019 Leave a Comment

Seeing no alternative… I swallowed my pride and began writing my first draft on Google Docs, starting with the browser version.

App Review: Tomato Typewriter

Posted on June 30, 2019 Leave a Comment

If you’re the sort of writer who enjoys writing on your Android tablet or smartphone but need the threat of a deadline to get you going, Tomato Typewriter by Zest Works might just be the app for you.

What’s On Your Writer’s Utility Belt?

Posted on June 2, 2019 Leave a Comment

Just like Batman has a utility belt which is loaded with all deus ex machina gadgets he needs to help him save the day, so we writers all have our (figurative) utility belts loaded with all the tools we rely on to help us whenever we sit down to write…. Don’t we? 😶

App Review: Character Story Planner 2

Posted on May 5, 2019 Leave a Comment

Everyone and their granny seems to have produced an app to help writers draft or plan their stories, most of which I personally don’t find very helpful. Nevertheless there are a few diamonds in the rough to be found and today I want to tell you all about another one I recently discovered: Character Story Planner 2 for Android by Ifantasia.

Why Your Fantastic Story Idea Has To Die

Posted on March 3, 2019 Leave a Comment

If you want my advice, you’ll treat your idea as a profane thing from the very moment it’s conceived. It is not sacred. It is not too beautiful to die. Frankly, it’s probably not as clever as you thought.

How to Help Your Audience Suspend Disbelief

Posted on February 3, 2019 Leave a Comment

You as the writer have a responsibility to write a story which makes it easy for the audience to suspend their disbelief…. The issue is not one of what is possible. The issue is of what is likely.

App Review: Storywriter

Posted on September 30, 2018 Leave a Comment

I, too, despair of the hope of ever finding such an app. It was in this context that I downloaded Storywriter by Raindrop for Android but the question is: did it deliver?