From the category archives:

Writing

Rules for Writing

March 17, 2010

Cover of BECOMING A WRITER

I recently read an article in the Guardian titled “Ten Rules for Writing Fiction”. It was primarily a platform to promote Elmore Leonard’s new book 10 Rules of Writing. Of course, six of the ten Leonard rules I’ve been guilty of breaking.
But the article went to garner ten rules from 28 [...]

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The non-fiction storyteller

March 8, 2010

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve noticed a trend lately in the non-fiction books I’ve read: telling a story amongst the facts, figures and research.  I’m not sure if it’s just the kinds of books I have been drawn to recently or if it’s indicative of the non-fiction for mass consumption space in general (I would exclude textbooks [...]

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How to deal with Feedback

March 3, 2010

So you’ve finished the latest draft of the epistle you’ve been slaving over for longer than you care to admit. Maybe it’s a short story, or a novel or screenplay, doesn’t matter – it’s the baby you’ve been nursing along. And now you’ve gotten feedback. Of course it included some positive comments, that’s de rigueur [...]

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A Serious Slice of Life

February 22, 2010

Image via Wikipedia

Over the weekend, I watched the Oscar-nominated (Best Motion Picture of the Year & Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) film, “A Serious Man“.  The cast is a great mix of instantly recognizable veteran actors and fresh faces, each attached to a well-developed character, no matter the amount of screen time.  [...]

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As a Writer, Know When it is Over

February 15, 2010

Image by Tony the Misfit (Getting Back) via FlickrThe story, that is. Recently I finished a sweet little Regionalism novel about two sisters growing up in 1950’s Milwaukee. It started out well with clever anecdotes and interesting characters, but when I got to the end of the book (or what I thought should be the [...]

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