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Tag: Writing

Notebook

For all the writers out there… Links!

Classic story structures and what they can teach us about novel plotting. Infographic: The key book publishing paths. How writer's workshops can be hostile, by Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen. From Chuck Wendig, a "hot steaming sack of business advice" for writers. John Scalzi explains the concept of the "brain eater," a danger lurking … Continue reading For all the writers out there… Links!

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May 24, 2017August 13, 2017Brain eater, business advice, Chuck Wendig, infographics, John Scalzi, Links, plot, Publishing, Story structures, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Writers workshops, Writing1 Comment
Notebook

Information overload and the loss of meaning…

One drawback I see in our ability to communicate faster than ever before is that we have become lazy about our language. A word or phrase will suddenly pop up everywhere, and we tend to pick it up and repeat it without really questioning what it means or how it's being used. See, for example, the term … Continue reading Information overload and the loss of meaning…

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March 2, 2017March 2, 2017Information overload, Linguistics, Semiotics, Web writing, WritingLeave a comment
Notebook

Should You Self-Publish or Traditionally Publish? | Jane Friedman

Jane Friedman gives really great advice on whether to self-publish or go the traditional route. Here's a key point: I see some writers self-publish mainly because they lack patience with the querying and submissions process of traditional publishing. Or they want the instant gratification of getting their work on the market. But again, this is one of the worst … Continue reading Should You Self-Publish or Traditionally Publish? | Jane Friedman

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June 22, 2016Jane Friedman, Publishing, Self-publishing, Traditional publishing, Writing1 Comment
Notebook

Present vs. past tense: Which to use in your writing

Over the past few years, I have noticed that more and more writers are using the present tense rather than the past tense to tell their stories. I think this trend started in young adult fiction, but now writers of all genres are employing the technique. Some readers don’t like this and will refuse to … Continue reading Present vs. past tense: Which to use in your writing

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June 18, 2016June 18, 2016Advice, Blake Crouch, Dark Matter, Hilary Mantel, Kristin Hannah, Narrator, Past tense, Present tense, The Nightingale, Verb tense, Wolf Hall, Writing1 Comment
Notebook

Quality of self-published books, revisited…

Recently, I wrote about the issue of quality in self-published books when compared to traditionally published books. I’m not the first or only person to have written about this (see here and here and here and here). I have also written about it on this blog many times. On my latest post on this subject, a commenter wrote: … Continue reading Quality of self-published books, revisited…

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June 15, 2016Baseline for quality, Libraries, Quality, Self-publishing, Traditional publishing, Writers, WritingLeave a comment
Asides

More is less…

I am currently taking a course in editing, and I thought this gem shared by the professor was worth saving: "More is less." Cut as much as you can without losing meaning and you may have it. If you don't need the words for the poetry of the language and you don't need the words … Continue reading More is less…

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June 14, 2016August 13, 2017Editing advice, Quotes, Revising, WritingLeave a comment
Notebook

Self-publishing’s quality problem…

When I pick up a book in a bookstore -- which, more than likely, is a book issued by a publishing company, also known as a “traditionally published” book -- I can usually assume that book will meet my baseline for quality*. In other words, it may not be a good story, the writing may … Continue reading Self-publishing’s quality problem…

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June 8, 2016June 8, 2016Amazon, Baseline for quality, Plagiarism, Quality, Readability, self-published books, Self-publishing, Traditional publishing, Writing8 Comments
Asides

Exploding More Writing Myths « terribleminds: chuck wendig

Another great piece by Chuck Wendig myth-busting the writerly myths: Crotch-Punching The Creative Yeti: Exploding More Writing Myths « terribleminds: chuck wendig. My favorite myth is, of course, that you don't have to know the rules. Writers who know the rules and break them purposefully are awesome. Writers who don't bother to learn the rules … Continue reading Exploding More Writing Myths « terribleminds: chuck wendig

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May 20, 2016Breaking the rules, Chuck Wendig, Writing, Writing mythsLeave a comment
Notebook

Writing advice from Ursula K. Le Guin

The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination as a collection is something of a hodgepodge, but there are many valuable nuggets to be mined, so it's a worthwhile book for any aspiring writer to consult from time to time. The personal essays in the first section, "Personal Matters," are … Continue reading Writing advice from Ursula K. Le Guin

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April 27, 2016Books about writing, Gender, Storytelling, Ursula K Le Guin, Wave in the Mind, WritingLeave a comment
Notebook

Negotiating with the dead: Margaret Atwood on what it means to be a writer

The short book, Negotiating with the Dead, is a collection of six lectures Margaret Atwood gave on writing. This is not a typical writing handbook, dispensing now-cliched advice like "write what you know" and "show, don't tell." Rather, Atwood tackles the question of what does it mean to "be a writer?" What is the writer, anyway, and … Continue reading Negotiating with the dead: Margaret Atwood on what it means to be a writer

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March 13, 2016March 13, 2016Creativity, Margaret Atwood, Negotiating with the Dead, Writers, Writing2 Comments

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