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Recent Posts
- The Secret to Emotional Prose
- Boosting Your Creativity the Hard Way
- What Do You See in a Character?
- The Love-Hate Relationship with Creativity
- Social Learning and Creative Writing
- Writing with Kennings
- No! I’m Not Insane
- Is “Show Don’t Tell” Good Advice?
- What Exactly is Imagery?
- The Writing Sampler
- Classics Don’t Qualify as Comps
- Dealing with Painful Critiques
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Category Archives: Writer’s resource
The Secret to Emotional Prose
Black Beauty is one of my favorite books because of the emotional nature of the story. As I read it in third grade I cared for that noble horse as his life became a series of downward trends. That was … Continue reading
Posted in Literary devices, Novels, Story structure, Style and voice, Writing trends
Tagged Anna Sewell, Black Beauty, book review, books, Emotion, Fiction
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What Do You See in a Character?
How many times have you read posts in which people argue about the merits of fictional characters? I’ve read enough of these to assume many readers prefer imaginary people to real ones. Fictional characters are often created to be braver, … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Literary devices, Writer's resource, Writing trends
Tagged archetypes, books, Characters, Creative writing, doppleganger, Fiction, Foil, Protagonist, semi-round, Writing, writing-tips
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Writing with Kennings
Creating imagery can be confusing. Ancient literature is difficult not just because of archaic words, but also figures of speech that are strange to our ears. These ancient authors were attempting to help the reader see the action. For example, … Continue reading
Posted in allusions, Creativity, Literary devices, Literature, Style and voice, Translations
Tagged Beowulf, breaker of rings, Figure of speech, giver of rings, idiom, kenning, old english, sail road, swan road, thee, whale road, ye
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Is “Show Don’t Tell” Good Advice?
When running out of advice to help a struggling author improve their novel, a more seasoned author may point out the benefits of showing rather than telling. What exactly does that mean? Unless you are producing a picture book, it … Continue reading
Posted in Literary devices, Novels, Writer's resource
Tagged books, Creative writing, Description, Fiction, show don't tell, Writing, writing-tips
1 Comment
What Exactly is Imagery?
What is the difference between describing details and creating imagery? Perhaps I should ask what is the difference in describing details that are exquisite and those full of boring minutia. The concept is difficult to explain because it does depend … Continue reading
Posted in Showing versus telling, Writer's resource
Tagged books, Description, details, imagery, Literature, Philosophy, poetry, Writing
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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
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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
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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
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