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Category Archives: Trends in books
Researching memorable characters
What makes a character memorable? There is no one clear cut answer and even much debate over which ones have that quality. I have researched a number of lists, particularly for characters from novels written in the 20th century. After … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Creativity, Literature, Trends in books
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Obnoxious characters
Creating villains is much like creating protagonists. They are people with depth and a history. A villain follows discernible motives just like the hero does. Only at some point in their life, villains take an ethical shortcut to get ahead. … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Group psychology, Literary devices, Literature, Mental health, Trends in books
Tagged heros, Jane Eyre, villians
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Want a good tip?
Have you ever chatted with a person and mentioned publishing some work only to be barraged with requests for writing tips? Although we would long to be full of wisdom, providing that kind of information is not easy. Sometimes it … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Creativity, Literature, Story structure, Trends in books
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A new definition of literacy
A child of mine made a joking statement that if we wanted to raise the level of writing we needed to lower the number of people who are literate. The supposed logic behind this suspect claim is that the books … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends, Fiction in education, intelligence, Literature, Trends in books, Writing trends
Tagged classics, genre, Literacy, Literature, reading levels
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The fantasy fad
When I attended a seminar for writers of young adult (YA) books, the speakers were all writing fantasy works. Nobody seemed to be creating realistic young adult novels. There should be room for mine, right? Maybe not. When I coached … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Literature, Millennials, Trends in books, Zoomers
Tagged Fantasy, magic school, YA, Young adult
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Language fashion trends
Speaking a language is a skill that we continue to do all our lives. If a child hears the language spoken properly, they will learn to speak it correctly without thinking about it. At least they will be speaking it correctly … Continue reading
Mature content
As a grade school child, I read a book called Black Beauty. It was actually written for adults. In the first chapter the son and only heir to the family dies of a broken neck in the foolish sport of … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Trends in books, Writer's resource
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Try a little name dropping
Imagine you are discussing a current government situation with a friend. You mention an insight you learned about behind-the-scenes working of government while in our capitol. Perhaps you briefly mention that when George Bush explained this the first time, you … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Literature, Trends in books, Writer's resource
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Does being well-read help you write?
Despite the flood of self-published books, there are still agents searching the field of writers attempting to discover the next best-selling author. I read a long list of short blurbs written by these agents describing what they required of those … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends, Literary devices, Story structure, Trends in books
Tagged the idiot, well-read
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Mixing past and present can get tense
Authors sometimes play with the parts of a novel, like wooden blocks that can be rearranged. What will happen if the middle of the story is inserted at the beginning, or time moves forward and then backwards? What if exterior … Continue reading
Posted in Literature, Trends in books, Writer's resource, Writing trends
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