Category Archives: Writing trends

A Matter of Ego

Posted on February 22, 2024 by knlistman

No one really writes a novel without considering the plot beforehand. Nor do they outline the events so tightly that they know each step the protagonist will take and never vary from this initial plan. So why do we argue … Continue reading →

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More to a Name than I Imagined

Posted on December 21, 2023 by knlistman

The statue pictured is a highly stylized likeness of Jehanne Darc, which is displayed all over France even in areas far from her homeland of Domrémy. Those few words not in “normal” English may convince a reader that they really … Continue reading →

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How Can Writing Not Be “Telling?”

Posted on December 6, 2023 by knlistman

I find the “show don’t tell” adage for writers a curious contradiction. Unless you are writing a movie script that will be produced, everything that you record is actually told to the reader. Writing is very abstract, so providing this … Continue reading →

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From Music to Words

Posted on November 23, 2023 by knlistman

My first experience with music as an inspiration for writing occurred in the summer between high school and college. I lay in bed at night listening to the radio and trying to go to sleep when a pop song with … Continue reading →

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Writing What You Don’t Know

Posted on October 26, 2023 by knlistman

Writing what I know makes the presupposition that I possess an intimate knowledge of events surrounding my own life. However, this knowledge is so specific to me that it may not reflect what others knew or thought at that same … Continue reading →

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Who Are the Grammar Police?

Posted on September 7, 2023 by knlistman

As I perused research about grammar police, I found one study with a conclusion that I had already deduced myself. No matter how much of a thought provoking story or essay that I create, the people who notice every misspelling … Continue reading →

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Predicting the Future of AI

Posted on July 27, 2023 by knlistman

In science fiction, predictions of a future that did not occur were made by authors such as Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C Clark, and Isaac Asimov. No one has traveled to the center of the … Continue reading →

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Searching for a Quest

Posted on July 21, 2023 by knlistman

I first encountered Lord of the Rings while I was in high school and J.R.R. Tolkien was still alive. Like most people in the United States I had never heard of him before. However, my friends were enthused about a … Continue reading →

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Defining Sci-Fi

Posted on July 14, 2023 by knlistman

In Perelandra, an earth man is sent to Venus  on a mission from God to counsel the ‘Eve’ of that planet so she does not fall prey to the wiles of Satan’s agent. I, Robot is a collection of short … Continue reading →

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A Series of World Building Woes

Posted on July 7, 2023 by knlistman

I am tentative about announcing a series because I recall the thrill of reading Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson when I was much younger. In this historical fiction a teenager escapes imprisonment on a ship and flees through the wild highlands of … Continue reading →

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