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- Classics Don’t Qualify as Comps
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Category Archives: Trends in books
Classics Don’t Qualify as Comps
Before attending my first writer’s conference in Oklahoma, I poured over the biography of all the speakers. Each one was asked to disclose a classic novel in their want to read list. Despite the different books listed I was shocked … Continue reading
Posted in Drama and movies, Literary devices, Psychology, Teaching writing skills, Trends in books
Tagged agent, books, comparable-comp, dark-fiction, dostoevsky, Fiction, Literature, Publishing, Writing
3 Comments
Why Not AI?
I write under a curse that requires me to experiment and revise as I create. Despite considering ideas, creating outlines to guide me and re-reading my initial work to improve it, the quality of my writing is not consistent. Unfortunately, … Continue reading
The Physiology of Love and Fear
The demand for writing from the character’s point of viewpoint is increasing. Sights, sounds, textures and tastes should reflect the perception of the character. But, what about physiological reactions? These descriptions capture the racing heart and euphoria, or the rise … Continue reading
Are You What You Read?
We don’t seem to be recovering from the drop in literacy within the United States among school age children in 2019 and following years. The standard response is blame the problem on children not receiving an adequate education during the … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Emotional intelligence, Literature, Trends in books
Tagged Education, Language arts, Literacy, teachers, teaching
1 Comment
Pushover Protagonist?
How often have you heard warnings against creating a protagonist who is the opposite of a mover and shaker, one who simply lets things happen to them? Or one who watches the other characters struggle without taking charge? A main … Continue reading
Writing and the Stock Market
All ideas have been done before. It’s basically impossible not to reuse one. If it hasn’t been done before, the idea will make almost no sense to anyone. That defeats the purpose of using it. Conformists want ideas that are … Continue reading
A Stuck Character
The character that I’ve imagined is stuck. Literally. He’s in solitary confinement, or in a dungeon, or abandoned on an island, and I know how he’s going to escape. But, for now he’s stuck. Should I just jump ahead to … Continue reading
The Happiness Requirement
“And they lived happily ever after” is not just a matter of fairy tales. A Happily Ever After (HEA) ending remains a favorite of many readers and has likely been one ever since stories were first told. In this age … Continue reading
Fiction from my Family Tree
One of the reasons that there is “nothing new under the sun” is because human creativity depends on our experience. But, I have only lived one life. Rather than writing an autobiographical series about a rather sedate existence, I would … Continue reading
Imaginary reality
Everyone writes from their experience. That is all some writers ever do. Henry David Thoreau only recorded his life experiences. James Baldwin and Ernest Hemingway wrote semi-autobiographical novels in addition to non-fiction essays and articles. Hemingway’s fiction contains thinly veiled … Continue reading
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