Andrew M. Friday

Author: andrewmfriday

  • Periodic table of storytelling

    Let this periodic table of storytelling destroy your writer’s block.

  • When I Used to Go Bookcrossing

    Ten years ago this month, I joined a website club called Book Crossing. The idea behind this website: release books into the wild. Here’s how it’s done. Register a book on the website. Write the registration number and “http://www.bookcrossing.com” on the inside cover of the book. Leave it someone where someone can pick it up.…

  • Writing Blog Roundup: brain function, life tips, first page, three stages, writing sequence

    Some blog articles on writing I’ve read recently: Brain function ‘boosted for days after reading a novel’ Being pulled into the world of a gripping novel can trigger actual, measurable changes in the brain that linger for at least five days after reading, scientists have said. Three Life-Tips That Will Make You a Better Writer.…

  • What I Read in 2013

    In 2003, I started keeping lists of the books I read. I compiled these lists on Amazon.com, but that wasn’t enough. I discovered Goodreads and listed every book I have ever read, including before 2003. Whenever I remember a book I read that hasn’t been listed, say a book I read back in high school…

  • Fiction Writing Workshop: Voice

    What is voice? Everyone pretends to understand what he means when he mentions voice in writing. I call terradiddle on that. When it comes to prose, I think people have a hard time telling the difference between voice and other elements like style and tone. I do. For now, let’s see how some writers define…

  • Writing Blog Roundup: avoid clichés, sabotaging gift, forget theme, booklover sterotypes, setting scene

    Some recent articles on writing that I have read: What’s A Cliché? Overused Words To Avoid In Your Writing. Pay attention to words that habitually end up on your editing room floor. How You May Be Sabotaging Your Gift to Write Words That Matter. As writers, we are by our very nature, critical thinkers, but…

  • Hero’s Journey

    I found this helpful for writing fiction: The Hero’s Journey. “The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development.  It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves…

  • I write like . . .

    I don’t take I Write Like  too seriously. This website–which analyses a person’s writing style and then matches it to a famous author–hangs out with all those websites in which a person can take a test to see if he is a narcissist or whether or not his physical symptoms indicate he has leprosy or…

  • Writing Blog Roundup: book blurb, better writing, be a writer, point-of-view, got theme

    Some articles I recently read on writing blogs: Margaret Atwood Rejects Book Blurb Requests with a Poem. Looking for a respected author to give you a blurb about your new novel? Don’t ask Margaret Atwood. You Don’t Need to Become a Better Writer. Every day, I get a message from a writer who wants to…