Tag: fiction
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Dialogue: More than Conversing
Dialogue has to show not only something about the speaker that is its own revelation, but also maybe something about the speaker that he doesn’t know but the other character does know. –Eudora Welty Good dialogue accomplishes 4 things in fiction: reveals and develops character delivers backstory drives Plot directs pace But there are more…
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Why Reading is Important
I’ve received several comments on my blogs concerning Dan Brown. They were all positive, the readers saying they had added Angels and Demons to their reading list. I wrote to one person in response to their comment that: I find that reading a work that displays the element of craft I am trying to incorporate…
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Editing: How Important is It?
Very. And yet this is a place where writers from all genres agree to disagree, as was the case today on AAMBC Radio where the topic was, “How Important is Editing?” I encourage all writers and novices of the craft to listen to or download the broadcast. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/AAMBC/2009/05/02/Panel-Discussion-How-important-is-Editing It would seem that quality editing is…
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Our Diary: Our Stories
What sort of diary should I like mine to be? Something loose knit and yet not slovenly, so elastic that it will embrace any thing, solemn, slight or beautiful that comes into my mind. I should like it to resemble some deep old desk, or capacious hold-all, in which one flings a mass of odds…
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Angel or Demon: Dan Brown and “The Lost Symbol” of His Writing
Dan Brown’s first new novel since The DaVinci Code was announced yesterday. Inevitably, it involves a global cult and a race against time to unlock a secret formula. Details of the plot are likely to remain fiercely guarded until much nearer the publication date of September 15, but intrigue centres on whether Brown’s vast and…
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Bike Riding
Last Friday I went bike riding with my 10-year-old. It was great. We were by the water. She wobbled a lot, though she never fell. I rode behind her. The path we took is a popular spot for runners and other bikers as well as walkers. There are two small lanes. On one side lay…
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New York Times Best Selling Author Tells the Truth
A few years ago I made a promise to my writer friends that if I ever had a novel hit the top twenty of the New York Times mass market bestseller list that I would share all the information I was given about the book so writers could really see what it takes to get…