Joe PonepintoJoe Ponepinto

Joe Ponepinto is a senior editor at Orca, A Literary Journal, and the owner of 55 Fathoms book publishing.  He’s the author of the novels Mr. Neutron and Curtain Calls. He writes, edits, and teaches in western Washington.

Write Small for a Bigger Impact
Image: close-up photo of a miniature, blue diecast Volkswagen Beetle with a flower protruding from its window, placed on a cobblestone street.
To write something that connects on a universal level, concentrate on specifics. Small truths are easier for readers to identify ...
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Don’t Tease Your Reader. Get to the Tension and Keep It Rising
Image: typewriter typing the words "top secret"
If you write knowing how the story will end, you’ll deprive readers of the tension that comes from putting obstacles ...
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The End May Only Be the Beginning: Infusing New Life Into Your Fiction
Image: start-finish line painted on a road for a foot race
One editor’s technique to add narrative tension, deepen characterization, and force you to think past the original boundaries of a ...
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Use Telling Details to Connect Description to Character
Image: close-up photo of a miniature antique car in the foreground, with blurred city street in the background.
One key to compelling fiction is in how details are conveyed. Not everything warrants description—only details that matter to the ...
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To Avoid Rejection, Take the Writer Out of the Story
To Avoid Rejection, Take the Writer Out of the Story
Experienced editors look for a story so engrossing the reader forgets that he’s reading—story in which the author’s voice seems ...
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