R C Beckett 
The third person omniscient point of view is the most open and flexible POV available to writers. As the name implies, an omniscient narrator is all-seeing and all-knowing. — David Mamet Once a writer decides to use a third person point of view (POV) the next question is: what is the SCOPE of that view? … Read more
Short stories are fun to read because they pack an unexpected emotional punch. However, short does not mean easy to write, or a formless type of expression. Quite the contrary, they are written and rewritten numerous times with herculean effort to be efficient, banish loose ends, conclude with a plot twist plus a memorable last … Read more
I’m a SciFi author who loves hard science fiction with a bit of humor. I started writing fiction in 2013 and now have 2 books published: Exit Mars Exit Earth In 2020, I hope to publish an additional two books (assuming my beta readers agree). Exit Pluto Maxx and Merlin
R. C. Beckett’s short story “A Study of Humans” was included in First Encounters — A Speculative Fiction Anthology and published by OTI Press on November 20, 2020. It is available on Amazon both in e-book and paperback. First encounters with the unknown call forth exciting stories full of magic, horror, humor, and suspense. What … Read more
R. C. Beckett published Exit Earth September 11, 2019. It is available as a Kindle ebook or paperback on Amazon. When aliens attack present-day Earth, the President calls Mars for help. Maxx Sirius and his team of Martians answer the call using a secret teleportation device called “The Frame”. The aliens press the attack with … Read more
R. C. Beckett published Exit Mars on Mar 31, 2016. Both the Kindle version and paperback are available from Amazon. When present-day Martian civilization, located deep underground on Mars, begins to run out of water a brilliant scientist, Maxx Sirius, makes a wonderful discovery. His teleportation device might save his family and all of Martian … Read more
Writers are a creative group of people who have invented several satisfying ways to end a story. The Straightforward: The story problem is solved, conflict is resolved and the main character’s journey ends. This is the most common ending, a “happy ending”. The Shocker: Typical of horror, crime and thriller genres. Careful foreshadowing leads to … Read more
What allows an author to convert something familiar, important or truthful into a story that is interesting? Simple answer: a plot. A story is NOT your diary, your years working as a gallbladder surgeon or the truth that advertisements lie. Readers want a plot that pulls them from the beginning to the end with a … Read more
Material submitted to a critique group is somewhere between a first draft and the final draft and may be an entire short story or just a few scenes from a novel. On one hand, a true first draft is riddled with grammar and spelling problems, best fixed with a grammar and spell checker like Grammarly … Read more
Editors, publishers, literary agents, and readers love edgy and quirky writing – but not at the expense of writing flow.— Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen Flow in writing is difficult to define, but readers always seem to recognize it. A flowing science fiction novel sucks the reader into the story, makes the unbelievable logical and prevents the poor … Read more