Tag: books
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Science Fiction & Fantasy I’ve Read Lately
Somewhere between my third alien invasion and second time-traveling romance, it hit me: I’d been devouring science fiction all year without stopping to process the journey. So, I decided to excavate my reading pile and see what patterns emerged from the wreckage. Here are my thoughts on some recent speculative fiction reading I’ve done: A…
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Friday’s Findings: The Consortium Saga Omnibus Release
Several years ago, I began imagining a galaxy of worlds united in peace and prosperity—well, mostly united. I couldn’t resist adding a few snags. At the heart of it all was a starship: a commercial vessel like a luxury liner, except instead of cruising oceans, it sailed through the cosmos. In this galaxy, travel between…
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Friday’s Findings: Name-dropping
The other day, I typed out a paragraph for the science fiction novella I’m working on, and I realized I’ve had this aching question for years: when do I use a character’s name and when do I use a pronoun instead? Are there formal rules for this sort of thing? When do I use my…
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Friday’s Findings: Beginnings and Ends for a Scene
I’ve been writing a lot of scenes lately, and I am constantly asking myself, “Am I beginning all my scenes the same way?” Am I always starting with dialogue? And what about ending a scene? How can I make sure I’m not always ending my scenes in the same way? Are some of them cliffhangers,…
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Do Your Own 50K Novel
The National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) website may be going inactive, but the spirit of NaNoWriMo does not have to die. It’s an opportunity for writers who have participated in the past to write their own fifty-thousand words in thirty days. And it can be any month they want. And they can start on any…
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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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Science Fiction & Fantasy I’ve Read Lately
I’ve been traveling in time with my speculative fiction reading lately. While the first two reviews below are recently released science fiction novels, the third review goes back a few years. Then I got brave. I read a fantasy from a few decades ago. Here’s what I thought: Cascade Failure by L. M. Sagas Science…
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Friday’s Findings: Never stop learning
Never stop learning your craft. I’m a little surprised that some people I know who like to write aren’t interested in further training. I guess I understand. but I like taking online classes about writing fiction. I have to be careful, because I don’t want learning to replace actual writing. Writers can spend a little…
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Friday’s Findings: Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
I just finished Janet Burroway’s Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, 10th edition, and here are some takeaways: “Most writing is done between the mind and the hand, not between the hand and the page.” “Keep the journal regularly, at least at first. It doesn’t matter what you write and it doesn’t matter very…
Andrew M. Friday 