Category: writing style
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Friday’s Findings 04.20.18
Here are some articles on writing I’ve read lately: John Keene: Elements of Literary Style Andrew Sean Greer Wins 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction Your Ultimate First Chapter Checklist, Part 2: Writing the Opening Scene Three Techniques to Write Better Settings Fix Scene by Employing Black Box Analysis View my Consortium SF Series at Amazon.…
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Epiphanies in Writing, Part 2: Editing your Novel
I don’t want to rehash what you’ve heard and discovered for yourself as a writer: “Most of writing is rewriting”; “Show don’t Tell”; “Use spell check”; “Let it cool off before you start to edit.” All good stuff. Personally, I love editing. It’s a chance to play with words, accessorize my paragraphs and paint word…
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The Only Time I’ve Regretted Being a Book Lover
My house, being over twenty-years-old, needed new floors. The hardest aspect of this remodeling wasn’t replacing the carpet with wood. It wasn’t the dust. It wasn’t every room in the house in disarray. It wasn’t moving furniture around. It was boxing up all my books. And I have a ton of books–in almost every room.…
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Keeping the Distance
Scott Nicholson says in Seven Bad Habits of Unsuccessful Writers: Newer writers tend to rely on “He saw,” “He felt,” “He smelled,” “He tasted,” or “He heard” instead of just letting the actions or sensations occur. It shows a lack of confidence. If you have done a good job of securing your character viewpoint, then…
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Fiction Writing Workshop: Action Scenes
He extends his sword and then utters these words: “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.” The most memorable part of this fight scene are these words. But why? To find the answer, I wanted to know more about writing effective fight and action scenes. My novel has several of…
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Books on writing I read in 2015
Every year I try and read a couple of books on the writing craft. I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but, honestly, I love reading stuff on how to write fiction. Here is what I read in 2015: Planning a Novel, Script or Memoir by Hank Quense Quense offers practical tips on how…
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Quense tells how he writes his books and doesn’t apologize for it
Here is my review of Hank Quense’s Planning a Novel, Script or Memoir as it appears in Goodreads and Amazon: I’ve read many books on writing fiction and after a while I see the same theories and best practices over and over. This is not necessarily a bad thing because a reminder is always helpful. However,…
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Writing Exercise: Describe One Thing Ten Ways
This writing exercise challenges the writer to describe something ten different ways. I chose Andre, a french bulldog whom I watch when his “mommy” and “daddy” are out-of-town. I have grown quite fond of him and he offers wondrous opportunities for description. Now, for my list, I decided to tackle description using the five senses…
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Writing blog roundup: make trouble, right choices, wrong words, when writing, writer’s block
Articles on writing I’ve read lately: Make trouble for your character. When in doubt, make trouble for your character. How to make the right choices for your novel. How do you know which choices are right for your novel? How to Ruin Your Novel’s Opening with a Few Wrong Words. Choosing the right set of words–the…
Andrew M. Friday 