Funny how December can turn a beautiful park into something out of a horror movie. I braved the NY cold over the weekend to take some pics. It wasn’t too bad…at the start. I wore gloves, but I couldn’t change my camera setting or zoom with them on. I had to take one off each…
Thanks for your comments on my previous post Beta Readers. Gave me something to think about. +Damien Boath also suggested I divide my 200,000+ word manuscript into several books. It stuck with me. It’s an excellent idea! I’ve been trying to figure out how and if this will work with my series. I’d love for…
It’s interesting, I’m coming across authors who separate good writing and good storytelling. I always thought those writing rules were making me a better storyteller. You can follow every rule and still write a crappy book. You can commit the most horrendous of writing sins and your book becomes a best seller. It’s kinda frustrating…
No info-dump, show- don’t tell, avoid adverbs, no passive voice, beware of repetitions. You’ve probably come across these writing rules. We treat them like the unbreakable rules. This is Writing 101. Are they as important as we make them out to be? I’m currently reading a book that had a major info-dump in chapter 2….
Most writers have that moment where they want to just stop. Writing a book is hard. It can take months even years for us to see any return. It’s been difficult for me to write. Not because of writer’s block. Response and sales for my books haven’t been going the way I expected. I’m questioning…
How do manage the flow of time in a story with several POV characters doing different things? I touched on this in the post Multiple Perspectives. Let’s say we start with John’s POV and then switch to Mary’s, spending 2 days with her. Then, we shift to Cat’s and spend 3 days with her. You…
Neil Gaiman describes it perfectly. I love how he answers the question where do you get your ideas from. It is a strange question to ask a writer. But, people ask it all the time.
What do these city names have in common? Nagoya Koshigaya Sapporo Okayama You may not know they’re in Japan, but by the sound of them and the fact that they’re cities, you know they’re in East Asia. What about? NairobiMombasaKisumu Kitale Again, you don’t have to know what country they’re a part of. By the…
You know I had to do this. It’s the last post of the year after all. We’re going to look back at the top posts of 2013. After all this time blogging, I’m still surprised at which posts people like most. This year was full of surprises. How this one became so popular is amazing. …
I mentioned a while ago that I was getting another Masters. This time in Publishing: Digital and Print. Well, last week was finals. I had four and it was murder. That’s the reason I only posted one time last week. Finals are over and I am never taking four classes again. I must have lost my…
