Category: Friday’s Findings
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Friday’s Findings: A Simple Writing Tip From C.S. Lewis
I just started listening to On Writing (and Writers): A Miscellany of Advice and Opinions by C. S. Lewis. The very first piece of advice he gives is so simple but so true. C. S. Lewis, On Writing is available at Amazon.com Photo by Steve Johnson: https://www.pexels.com/photo/multicolored-abstract-painting-1509534/
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Friday’s Findings: Books on Writing
I’d like to share two books on writing I’ve recently purchased: Save the Cat Writes a Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody Brody expounds on the Save the Cat beats with young adult novel examples. Even if you don’t write YA novels, or even if you are a pantser, you can probably mine out some…
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Friday’s Findings: Two Column Method to Drafting
I’ve discovered a way to create a rough draft more quickly and conveniently. Sometimes, I’ll have a page of notes about a scene I want to write. But going back and forth from the page with my notes to the page where I’m composing my rough draft slows me down. I tried a split screen,…
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Friday’s Findings: Writing Lessons from One Piece
I watched the new Netflix series called One Piece over the Labor Day weekend. I recommend it if you’re looking for both humor and drama. Being a pirate-themed show, One Piece has a lot of swashbuckling fun. Monkey D. Luffa wants the One Piece, a treasure hidden by the executed pirate Gol D. Roger. He…
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Friday’s Findings: Beasts of London Book Review
Hidden Secrets and Dangerous Choices Murders in Victorian-era London are so savage they baffle the local authorities. These killings are so gory , they couldn’t have been done by an ordinary human. Supernatural beasts are named as the likely suspects. The police turn to the only one with otherworldly experience: Cecil Morris. And the investigation…
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Friday’s Findings: Where Are You With Your Writing Goals?
It’s hard to believe it’s June already. Where are you with your writing goals for this year? Fiction University: Choose the Setting for Your Short Story: Location, Weather, Atmosphere (janicehardy.com)provides guidance on selecting the right setting elements to enhance the overall impact of your short story. When to Use Semicolons: 4 Rules and Examples (reedsy.com)offers…
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Friday’s Findings: Do We Really Need Story Structure?
I just finished Stephen King’s On Writing. Once again. I’m still flabbergasted that one of the best-selling authors in American history doesn’t endorse story structure. And I also just listened to a fiction writing seminar with Lisa Cron. In it, she reiterated what she says in her book, Story Genius, to begin with the story.…
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Friday’s Findings: Plot and Story
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the concepts of the difference between plot and story. The simplest, bare-bones definitions is this: plot is what happens on the surface and story is what happens on the inside. Plot is the physical action and events. Story is the internal thoughts, themes and conflicts of the…
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Friday’s Findings: Can AI Write a Novel?
Apparently, Artificial Intelligence can write a novel. The question is: can AI write a good novel? To me, good novels require human emotions. Characters need to make decisions in their fictional exploits. And decisions, even those based on just the facts, require emotions to be made. Can AI make decisions as complex as humans? Can…
Andrew M. Friday 