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!
Tag: Writing
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…
