Twenty feet from being Stephen King
Today’s offering is a guest post from Louise Marley, an award-winning author of historical fiction as well as science fiction and...
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KAY KENYON
"Kenyon takes the nuts and bolts of SF and weaves pure magic around them." --Sean Williams
- Jan 13, 2014
What are you talking about?
Theme is a loaded word. In fiction, it aroused the suspicion that we’re preaching about something. Can’t we just give the story a...
- Dec 22, 2013
Top Writing the World Posts of 2013
Courage, faith, balance. Essentials for the writing life This year on my blog I’ve had fun sharing my views, exploring the writing...
- Sep 5, 2013
An interview on the new book, fantasy & publishing
Please drop by for my new interview, podcast now at Dialogue: Between the Lines! I had fun chatting with show host Susan Wingate today....
- Mar 4, 2013
The speed of story
I’ve been thinking about pacing, and what a judgment call this aspect of fiction requires. Repetitive and unnecessary words, paragraphs,...
- Jan 23, 2013
The Hidden Theme
Theme is a loaded word. It conjures up middle school English classes where you have to cough up what the writer was trying to say in...
- Jan 14, 2013
Imitating greatness
The writer’s calling is a noble one. It’s a very fine thing that we do in the world–creating stories and putting them out there. But it’s...
- Dec 31, 2012
Top 10 Writing the World posts of 2012
Happy New Year, friends! I had fun digging in this year to discover what I believe about writing and what I believe can be taught and...
- Dec 4, 2012
How to be you
In this market-driven world how does a writer manage to be authentic? How am I supposed to write my own stories, but find that...
- Nov 27, 2012
The contradition in character
In writing the novel, there is a difference between characterization and character. Characterization is a list of attributes that...
- Nov 12, 2012
5 ways to beat the publishing odds
When we start out on the road to becoming a novelist, it’s fair to ask, “What are my chances?” And we’d better ask that question, because...
- Nov 6, 2012
How to keep your focus
We are a distracted society. Amid phones in our hip pockets, movie must-sees, and political blather, it’s hard to concentrate on any one...
- Oct 29, 2012
Dialogue don’ts
Dialogue is where an author most clearly shows her depth and mastery of craft. Learn to do this piece well, and you’ll be far more likely...
- Oct 15, 2012
The guessing game
Okay, fellow writers, we’ve been pushed around long enough. We’re told to be accurate, clear and crisp. Tell the story. Don’t confuse the...
- Oct 8, 2012
How to revise your story
I was going to give this one a snappy title, but then I thought, no, let’s keep it simple. We need to revise our work. Oh boy, do we...
- Sep 24, 2012
Vicarious life
Why do we read fiction? I think this is an excellent question because the way we answer it for ourselves can inform how we create...
- Sep 17, 2012
The eccentric and the cruel
Call it a light bulb moment. The moment when I put together two subsets of character and plot, to realize why most novels fail. First...
- Sep 10, 2012
Is it too late?
You know that nagging sense: You should have started serious writing sooner. You should be published by now, famous by now. Earning real...
- Aug 27, 2012
Guest blog: Giving cliches short shrift
Today’s post is from Louise Marley, an extraordinary writer of over a dozen novels, and one of the best writing teachers around. Her...
- Aug 20, 2012
The five car pile up
If you read very many writing blogs and go to workshops, you must be getting the impression that novels need a lot of stuff and some of...
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