Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I love the crisp cool days and bright blue skies. Can this feeling translate to writing? Weather can become an important item to set the temperament of the scene or the entire novel. In the movie “Blade Runner,” a Harrison Ford film just after his “Star Wars” […]
The Name Game
October 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I’m in the research and rough draft stage of a new novel. This phase led to planning a genealogy for the male character in the novel. Names are important. They are especially important when writing a time specific book. Would you name a futuristic alien Joe? A Biblical setting would evoke certain names. Contemporary names […]
Writing Lesson 3.33 – Formatting Your Manuscript Like a Pro
May 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The following post appeared in Randy Ingermanson’s Advanced Fiction Writing E-Zine and it seemed very appropriate to re-post at contest entry time __________________________________________________________________ There aren’t any ironclad rules on how to format the manuscript of your novel. However, there are good ideas and bad ideas. Whenever I teach at conferences, I see all kinds of […]
Writing Lesson 3.31 – Minimalist or Epic Writer?
April 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A February 3, 2012 blog post by Sharon K. Souza of Novel Matters caught my attention. Souza said, “I tend to write novels with just a handful of characters, and only a few plot lines. I’m always impressed with complex novels and wish I could pull off that kind of writing, but my story worlds […]
Writing Lesson 3.29 – Will an Agent Want You?
March 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
In the current publishing climate it’s very hard to find an agent or a publisher who will represent you. In a blog from Books and Such on Feb 28, 2012 Rachel Kent made an interesting statement we should all heed. I’m focusing on one item from her list. Rachel states, “Today I’m going to cover […]