The television season finales were a month ago, and for a month now nothing new has aired. We have two (or three) more months until new content is added. What will I do with myself? I recently moved to the Northern Hemisphere, where this tragedy occurs at the beginning of summer, not winter. Instead … Continue reading »
Tagged with composition …
An Interview With a Marketing Manager: Advice to Self-Publishers
Josh Mosey, who runs a blog here on WordPress is a marketing manager who owns his own marketing business, specializing in creating print materials for the publishing industry. He has also worked at a book store for many years. I was able to interview him about his industry and how he relates to self-publishers like … Continue reading »
How a Book is Born: A Humorous Yet Truthful Look at Publishing
Yesterday I brought up the point that it is strange how James Patterson completes the herculean task of churning out 12 best sellers in a year. Today I found an info graphic by Mariah Bear that is a humorous satire of what it takes to get published these days, but it is also laden with … Continue reading »
Samantha Shannon: The Next J.K. Rowling?
I read an article today about Samantha Shannon who will release a novel entitled The Bone Season this year. She is a literature student at Oxford University and many people say she could be the next billion dollar author, as her book will be one of seven books in a series. She has everything going for … Continue reading »
Tolkien’s 10 Tips for Creating Epic Heroes
One of my most popular posts is Tolkien’s 10 Tips for Writers, in which I glean from J.R.R. Tolkien’s letters of his wisdom about writing. Today I will delve into his letters again, but will focus on the epic character Aragorn and ask Professor Tolkien how he created great characters. 1. Motivational Mirrors – Tolkien … Continue reading »
How to Write Descriptively With Metaphors
Metaphors are one of the most used literary devices in the English language second only to similes. The problem with using similes is that they often cause your writing to become a mine field of quantifiers. (i.e. His breath was like the foul smell of a garbage heap and his face was like a pock … Continue reading »
Imagery: Beyond “Show Don’t Tell”
I am sure that if you have attended any creative writing courses at all , you have heard the old addage “Show, don’t tell.” This is referring to the idea that amateur writers often tell us about the action in their narrative rather than “showing” events through imagery, figurative language and good description. Over the … Continue reading »
Deus Ex Machina: God Is Not A Crutch
Breaking Dawn is one of Stephanie Meyer’s most popular books, but it has within its pages a literary device that is something good writers should learn to use properly: deus ex machina. Deus ex machina is defined by my handy Dictionary of Literary Terms & Theory (Penguin) as: “any unanticipated intervener who resolves a difficult … Continue reading »
How To Find a Unique Narrative Style
One of the most difficult tasks of writing a long novel is the ability to create a narrative style that is unique, flows well, and remains consistent throughout the 50,000 words or so required for a novel. It also must be a style that catches a reader’s eye from the first few pages. I have … Continue reading »
Scrivener Addict: Why I Won’t Go Back To Word for Novel Writing
I really can’t remember why or how I found out about Scrivener, or as I like to call it “The Novelist’s Friend”. I downloaded it back in December of 2011 and use it every day. Many of my friends who really know me look at me with raised eyebrows and crooked mouths when I mention … Continue reading »
