Category Archives: Writer’s resource

Discussion of broad range of writing topics

How I Judge Books

Posted on April 20, 2021 by knlistman

People are supposed to judge books by the cover, by the blurbs and by who the author is. I have favorite books with unappealing covers, done in an out-of-date style, or an old illustration slapped on the front. I tend … Continue reading →

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The dance of suspense

Posted on April 6, 2021 by knlistman

Suspenseful writing is a dance between plausibility (what makes sense to readers), and the unexpected. Not just any unexpected events, such as inheriting a million dollars, but ominous ones, such as discovering that the previous person who inherited that same … Continue reading →

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Searching for the perfect quest

Posted on March 30, 2021 by knlistman

A friend of mine who had a desk cluttered with Star Wars memorabilia, raved about each movie. Yet, she admitted sheepishly that she never finished Lord of the Rings because she just couldn’t get into it. When I read the … Continue reading →

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Don’t let your main character get away

Posted on March 16, 2021 by knlistman

One item that agents and editors expect—or demand—is that the author provides enough about the main character to draw in the reader from the very beginning. They don’t want a detailed description of appearance, education or employment. However, the text … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Literature, Writer's resource | Leave a comment

The illusive pervasive theme

Posted on March 8, 2021 by knlistman

A website for identifying my writing doppelganger named Cory Doctorow when I used a sample from a short story and Kurt Vonnegut when I used one of my articles. As I tested different parts of a novel, the analysis said … Continue reading →

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If it’s good enough for me, it’s good enough for a memoir

Posted on March 1, 2021 by knlistman

If you wish to write what you know, or the story of part of your life, you must come to grips with the fact that your life is not a page turner. What is well written memoir for you, may … Continue reading →

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Should I write what I know?

Posted on February 22, 2021 by knlistman

According to commonly given advice, the popularity of a memoir rests on the fame of a person writing it. However, the argument against “writing what you know” is often refuted by an excellent rebuttal in the form of a well … Continue reading →

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Making criticism constructive

Posted on February 15, 2021 by knlistman

Using bad writing advice as gatekeeping to keep some people outside of writing circles seemed like a strange accusation to me. It was not something that I considered before, but as I continued to read the article, I recognized behavior … Continue reading →

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Your darlings may not deserve to die

Posted on February 9, 2021 by knlistman

When Arthur Quiller-Couch lectured on the art of writing at Cambridge in 1914, he uttered a phrase repeated frequently among authors today. Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before … Continue reading →

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Showing too much

Posted on February 1, 2021 by knlistman

Carefully polishing my piece for a writing critique, I attempted to picture every detail of a tense scene. Two indigenous boys scavenged through a village ravaged by mudslides, only to encounter unscrupulous men searching for labors to conscript. The boys … Continue reading →

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