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Current books:
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11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King
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John Carter of Mars Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Recent books:
- The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
- Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
- The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross
- Autobiography of Mark Twain: The Complete and Authoritative Edition, Volume 1 by Mark Twain
- Matter (Culture) by Iain M. Banks
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Rules for Writing from Masters
In Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, Kurt Vonnegut gave eight Short Rules for Crafting good fiction that have been copied all over the Web: Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. Every sentence must do one of …
Posted in Writing
Tagged Arts, Elmore Leonard, English language, Kurt Vonnegut, Literature, Writer
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Site of the Week: The Turkey City Lexicon.
I’ve used the Turkey City Lexicon for years. Growing out of a science fiction writer‘s group in Austin, Texas, it’s an invaluable resource for all writers. It’s a collection of humorous writing tips, apt names for writing errors and a kind of secret handshake for writers all rolled into one. For Example: The Kitchen-Sink StoryA story overwhelmed by the inclusion of any and every new idea that occurs to the author in the process of writing it. (Attr. Damon Knight) …
The Best Writing Advice I Never Listened To.
Image via Wikipedia 8,000 days. Twenty-two years ago I got the best writing advice I ever received. Advice simple, powerful and profound. Every time I think about it, it humbles me. It’s simple to understand, but difficult to do. It’s the single number one reason I feel that I am still struggling with my writing. Like many would be authors I used to get bogged down in the myth of the writer: that there’s some mysterious alchemical brew of Discipline …
Posted in Writing
Tagged Arts, Author, Education, Ray Bradbury, Screenplay, Writer, Writers Resources
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Working the Novel: Day 6- Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
Image via Wikipedia “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.” I’d like to thank my Brother-in-law for sending me this link. Supposedly it’s correct: I’ll defer to the experts, although I don’t think it makes sense. It relies on the three meanings of ‘Buffalo:” Buffalo- a City in NY buffalo- a bison buffalo- to bully So, Everytime you read “Buffalo buffalo,” think “NY Bison” and the extra “buffalo” by itself means bully. I think “Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo” …
I Wanted to Believe in the X-Files, Had My Faith Tested with Battlestar, But Now They’ve Lost Me.
OK. I bought the supernatural angle since the beginning of the year. But NO MORE. God, I’ve had it with Fantasy and Sci-Fi shows that pretend to be serials but aren’t really because they’re just making it up. I blame Chris Carter. He Legitimized this kind of sloppy story telling. It’s a fraud. It’s contemptuous. And it’s dishonest from a story telling perspective- it’s not a mystery if the clues don’t mean anything. Look- We still watch Dr. Who- that’s …
