For me, one of the hardest things to master has been the art of writing dialogue. This comes up all the time in discussions of writing. Despite the fact that we hear and engage in dialogue every day, when it comes to putting it down on paper, we tend to give up on writing and… Continue reading “Realistic” Dialogue
Publishing Update
I’ll break from my fiction advice series for a moment to tell you that I’m still hard at work on subsidy publishing my first three novels, The Stardrift Trilogy. I’m not absolutely certain that I would advise subsidy publishing after what I’ve been through, but on the other hand, I’ve run up against a great deal of… Continue reading Publishing Update
Creating a character to drive the plot
One of my favorite parts of writing novels is making up the people who will populate it. I don’t understand those authors who seem to use the same basic types for every novel they write. I will admit that there are people that just end up turning up in different roles with slightly different… Continue reading Creating a character to drive the plot
You Are What You Read
Some of the information in this post relates back to former posts, such as “How Not to Write Like A Girl…or a Guy.” You’ll notice when a person is asked to write a creative work, they’ll often fall back on what they know for inspiration. In other words, what they read. I’ll use myself… Continue reading You Are What You Read
Voices
Think about the people you know. When you start a conversation with one of your friends, you have certain expectations. You’re familiar with the kinds of things they say in various situations, and how they say them. You tend to have a good idea of how they converse. You can tell when they’re in a… Continue reading Voices
Dictionary and Thesaurus
One of the easiest ways to make your writing stronger and more artistic is to broaden your vocabulary. It’s natural for people to know the definitions of a great many words in their own language and quite a few in others, but the percentage that we actually use in speech or writing is pretty measly.… Continue reading Dictionary and Thesaurus
Don’t write like a girl…or a guy.
You can’t always be sure by reading a piece of literature whether the writer is male or female. Subject matter, plot, and the gender of the main character can, but don’t always offer clues. But there are particular style problems that arise more often in female writers, and others that are more typically male. I’ve… Continue reading Don’t write like a girl…or a guy.
On Description
Hello everyone. Sorry about the lack of action, my access to internet is limited. However, I’ve decided to try my best to start posting regularly from now on—at least once a week, I hope. I plan to start a series of posts this week on the subject of writing. I’ve recently started writing my eighth… Continue reading On Description
The Red Robin
I always stare at graffiti on train cars and wonder…. The Red Robin a red robin is traced in bleeding paint not red like a rose or a rubylike blood–thin bloodnot bright and fresh, but not dry yetthe silhouette of the perching thrush is a shadow on the tanker cara bird that migrates by train the symbol of something someone perhaps the rainy… Continue reading The Red Robin
Quantum Heartbeat: at a loss for words? Find some!
This is something everyone should do from time to time. It’s a great way to open your mind to new metaphors and break with old cliches. What I’ve done is, I’ve taken scissors to magazines and impulsively cut out words that appealed to me, then I arranged them into this poem. There’s just enough thinking… Continue reading Quantum Heartbeat: at a loss for words? Find some!