Tag: writing
member name: Pat Bertram
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August 04, 2008 11:01 PM EDT --
For me, writing is like the world's longest crossword puzzle, one that takes a year to complete. I like playing with words, finding their rhythm, and getting them to behave the way I want. I like . . . more
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February 18, 2008 12:23 PM EST --
I've been reading the novels of a bestselling author, trying to figure out the secret of her success, and for the life of me, I don't see it. Perhaps it's hidden beneath her appalling . . . more
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May 14, 2008 07:26 PM EDT --
Anyone who writes crime fiction, especially novels about a serial killer, is familiar with the sociopathic personality. But not all sociopaths are killers. Some psychologists estimate that there are thirty . . . more
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May 05, 2008 09:47 AM EDT --
In March, John Philipp wrote an article about writing calendar humor, though what is funny about calendars, I sure don't know. Mine has yet to tell a single joke. It's all about numbers, and numbers, . . . more
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August 04, 2008 12:12 AM EDT --
Like other construction worker, we creators of word worlds own toolboxes filled with necessary implements. We have hooks to hook the reader, glue to glue their attention, a feather or two to . . . more
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August 13, 2008 01:05 AM EDT --
Novels generally have a three-part structure: beginnings, middles, and ends.
Beginnings connect the reader to the main character, present the story world, establish tone, introduce the opposition, and . . . more
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April 07, 2008 10:39 AM EDT --
The most powerful tool at a writer's command is not a computer or a word processing program. It is not even a pen, though the pen is said to be mightier than the sword. (Frankly, though, . . . more
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January 20, 2008 09:50 PM EST --
When I begin to get immersed in a creating a book, whether by writing or simply by working it out in my mind, I look twice at everything that comes my way, wondering if it is a gift from . . . more
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March 19, 2008 12:45 PM EDT --
Okay, I admit it: I am a closet pencilphile. Seems silly, I know, in this electronic age, but I write in pencil on loose-leaf paper. There. I've outed myself. I feel so much better now. . . . more
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April 21, 2008 11:08 AM EDT --
The first half of a novel comes slowly for me. Some writers can sit down and let the story whoosh out of them, but I have to think of everything, to create everything, to draw in words the images I want . . . more
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January 28, 2008 12:13 PM EST --
If I hear one more person say he is going to give a hundred and ten percent, I think I'll scream or vomit or do something equally repulsive.
What does it mean, anyway? A hundred and ten . . . more
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June 04, 2008 12:08 PM EDT --
David Gerrold, a science fiction writer, is presenting this discussion. He doesn't know that he is; I only know him through his book, Worlds of Wonder . Although it is a book on how to write science . . . more
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June 18, 2008 11:47 AM EDT --
Characters interact with the setting as much as they do with the plot and other characters. In fact, setting can be used as another character, one that is implacable and without reason. Like . . . more
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July 27, 2008 11:20 AM EDT --
Although I know the importance of having a mentor, I still haven't figured out where to get one; we don't have Mentors R Us out here in the boonies. But reverse mentors can be just . . . more
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March 26, 2008 01:25 PM EDT --
New writers often rail against formulas and rules in an attempt to find their own voice, but the rules of good writing and storytelling need not be formulaic. Nor do formulas themselves need to be formulaic. . . . more
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April 14, 2008 11:11 AM EDT --
I need to fill a hole in my work-in-progress. The hero of this apocalyptic novel loses one person after the other until he is alone. (I'm not giving anything away here. I already told you . . . more
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January 27, 2008 12:54 PM EST --
To be real, a character must have strengths and weaknesses. I have been creating a profile for Chip, the hero of my work in progress, and I know some of his strengths: he is independent, can . . . more
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April 28, 2008 01:56 PM EDT --
I don't think I have the proper attitude for reading today's novels. (Or yesterday's novels, either - I tried to read Nicholas Nickleby and by the time I paged through the list of illustrations, . . . more
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January 31, 2008 11:04 PM EST --
When I begin creating a book, whether by writing or simply by working it out in my mind, I look twice at everything that comes my way, wondering if it is a gift from the muses.
Recently I received . . . more
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February 26, 2008 08:47 PM EST --
Theme reminds me of literature classes and discussions about what certain authors meant. I wonder if those authors would agree with the meanings ascribed to their works, or if they are laughing in their . . . more
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