Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t – My Review
Really? Nobody? Ouch. But it’s true. So the point is: Don’t write sh*t. In Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t, Steven Pressfield describes his journey as a writer and what he learned along the way about creating a strong story. Read More …
Be the Monkey – a Barry Eisler Joe Konrath dialogue
Love this quote: “The only really necessary people in the publishing process now are the writer and the reader!” Russell Grandinetti, Amazon Be the Monkey is a 35,000 word on-line discussion between two articulate, refreshingly irreverent and extremely intelligent writers Read More …
3 Quotes from Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird
I’m reading an amazing craft book on writing: Bird by Bird, Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott (Random House, New York, 1994). As one critic said: “Superb writing advice…hilarious, helpful and provocative.” (New York Times Book Review) Read More …
David Morrell on Creating Vivid Settings
Setting: How to Make Your Novel Go Places David Morrell, (Thrillerfest, July 11, 2013) Introduced himself as “Rambo’s Daddy” and then told us about his academic studies (Hemingway scholar) he’s also the co-founder of the International Thriller Writers association About Read More …
T. Jefferson Parker on Outlining
Off on the Right Foot: When to Outline and When to Write T. Jefferson Parker (Thrillerfest Lecture, July 10, 2013) Written 20 books Writes one a year and focuses on it – like a 365 day road trip with a Read More …
John Sandford's Advice on How to Polish Your Manuscript
Small Things: Techniques and Ideas to Burnish Your Text John Sandford (Thrillerfest, July 10, 2013) About to release his 23rd Prey novel – Silk and Prey Publishers want to see completed manuscripts Avoid echoes (i.e., word repetitions) and Do a Read More …
Steve Berry's Advice on Story Structure
The 6 C’s of Story Structure: It’s Not Everything – It’s Absolutely Everything notes from a lecture given by Steve Berry at the 2013 Thrillerfest July 10, New York City Stories must have structure the number one problem in stories Read More …
Studying Vogler's Mythic Structure – Part 1
“All stories consist of a few common structural elements found universally in myths, fairy tales, dreams, and movies. They are known collectively as The Hero’s Journey.” xxvii I’ve started reading Christopher Vogler’s book, The Writer’s Journey Mythic Structure for Writers Read More …
Hiding Information with the 'Pope in the Pool'
Today I’m talking craft. It’s a how to-hide information post<g>. Deep in revision mode, I realize that my main problem with pacing is due to poorly constructed info-dumps. Wanting the reader to understand my characters I give them too much Read More …
^