Author: andrewmfriday
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Friday’s Findings: Goals or Systems?
I’ll be honest with you. I did not achieve my writing goals this year. I have no one to blame but myself. Being the end of the year, I thought about how I could do better in the year to come. So, I consulted with my friend, a book called The Atomic Habits. I’ve discussed The Atomic…
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Writing Advice from Chuck Palahniuk
Seasons greetings. Over the years I’ve quoted Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk on several occasions, so I decided to collect all his advice I’ve regurgitated on this blog into one entry. Below are some quote from his writing craft book Consider This that has spoken to me over the years: This is a link to…
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Friday’s Findings: Character Viewpoint and Description
I am a technical editor for an airline, and recently my department moved from one building to a new one. I love my new office. Everything is new and clean. It’s located in an airplane hangar, so I can just step away from my desk and go see the airplanes up close as the mechanics…
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Friday’s Findings: Read, Read, Read
“Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.” —William Faulkner Friday’s Findings…
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Warning: No Info Dumping, Part 3
For the past year, I’ve been creating a story in my mind. It started with a single scene, but since then I’ve daydreamed of several scenarios in which my story fermented, busted, and grew. And grew some more. If I wasn’t already working on other pieces of fiction, I’d go ahead and give it my…
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Warning: No Info Dumping, Part 2
In my last blog entry, I talked about the dos and don’ts of info-dumping. Now, I’d like to offer some case studies of info-dumping in action. While these may exaggerate info-dumps in action, they can still cause the writer to ask herself, ‘Have I done this?’ Info-dumps mostly pop up in these areas of description…
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Warning: No Info Dumping, Part 1
Let’s talk about some do’s anLet’s talk about some do’s and don’t’s of info-dumping. I try to find ways to include how things work in my sci-fi and fantasy stories, but I’m not always sure I avoid info-dumping. I try to. But it’s an easy trap to fall into, especially as a speculative fiction writer.…
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Some books on writing craft
The following are two completely different books for the writer. One is about a structured process and the other is about organically discovering your creativity. We can benefit from both. Save the Cat Writes a Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody I just finished Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat Writes a Young Adult Novel and…
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Friday’s Findings: Imposter Syndrome as a writer
Over the last few years, I’ve encountered the term imposter syndrome, and I’m like, “What is that?” Imposter syndrome is a thought pattern that reoccurs in someone’s mind and tells them they’re not good enough at what they do. For example: “I’m not a good teacher.” “I’m a terrible physician.” “I’m not as good a…
Andrew M. Friday 