“Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do?” Have you ever wondered why being a Goody Two-Shoes* is bad? I have. I mean being good is good, right? So, why shouldn’t we want to be good? What is implied in the term Goody Two-Shoes that makes even me cringe when someone…
For some time now, I have been thinking of a post on writing about good and evil. Can good be interesting? What are the pitfalls people run into when designing villains. This sort of thing. Most likely, it will be in three parts—Writing About Good Settings, Writing About Good Characters, and Writing About Evil. Here…
After years of hints and wheedling, John is FINALLY reading the Harry Dresden books. Yesterday, Juss blurted out the dire cliffhanging ending of Book 11. John objected. Orville: “Don’t worry, Dad. You’ll forget it.” Dad: “I don’t forget anything except phone numbers and your names.” Orville thinks about this carefully for a minute: “Just pretend…
Website Joy I remember the first time I saw a URL (is it an URL or a URL) on a motion picture poster. I laughed out loud. “What a good idea!” I thought, “Instead of cramming a million bits of info onto a poster, they can just put a website and put their info there.”…
Ping Pong Dialogue Several people have asked me for a post on writing dialogue. This is not it. But it is a post on writing a specific kind of dialogue, a kind I only recently discovered. Ping-Pong Dialogue: Have some dialogue go back and forth quickly, taking less than one line on the page –…
Guest blog today by writer friend David Marcoe. Enjoy! All art centers on ideas. All narrative art, where it employs story (where the character is irreversibly changed by narrative’s end, as opposed to portraiture), revolves around conflict. All conflict in story revolves around polarized values and their collision; life/death, freedom/slavery, success/failure, love/hate, family/job, et al.…
Next in our series of articles fleshing out the points on my Writing Tips. Dicken’s Trick: Using action in description: “There is not just a kettle on the fire, it is boiling over.” “Horses at the cab stands are steaming in the cold and stamping. When people enter a room they are sneezing or hiding…
Guest blog by my illustrious husband, science fiction and fantasy writer, John C. Wright: City of Heroes character,John C. Wright, Author Pundits puzzle over why it should be that fantasy, that nostalgic adoration of swords and sorcerers, elfin mariners whose silver ships breast the winedark starlit seas of myth, and science fiction, that futuristic admiration…
Writing friend Merry Muhsman guest blogs with this delightful piece on Encouragement. My cousin’s daughter trembled in my arms, bobbing up and down as the wave rolled by us. “What’s the worst that could happen?” Her skis split apart, even as I wrapped my arms beneath her legs and pulled her close to…
Guest post today. Writer Friend Dolly Garland with this charming essay on why we write. What Keeps You Going? It’s funny being a part-time writer. It’s a dream. A step above hobby. A future career. But currently, it’s something that doesn’t pay the bills, only takes the time and effort. Lots and lots of…