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!
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…
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
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
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…
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…
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…
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
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
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
