In her recent Wall Street Journal article “Darkness Too Visible,” Meghan Cox Gurdon criticizes today’s young-adult fiction, saying it’s become too dark, violent and graphic. “How dark is contemporary fiction for teens?” Gurdon writes. “Darker than when [...]
Archive for the ‘Fiction writing’ Category
Young-adult fiction too dark?
Posted in Fiction writing, Publishing industry, tagged Meghan Cox Gurdon, young adult fiction on June 20, 2011 | 1 Comment »
What I’m reading: The Kalahari Typing School for Men
Posted in Fiction writing, What I'm reading, tagged The Kalahari Typing School for Men on April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
One thing I enjoyed about Alexander McCall Smith’s light-hearted private-eye novel The Kalahari Typing School for Men is how well Smith conveyed the culture of Africa, everything from the formal style with which the locals address each other to how business arrangements are based on personal relationships. What towns have you lived in? Would any [...]
Publishing industry: Romance novels
Posted in Fiction writing, Markets, Publishing industry on March 17, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Click below to read an OregonBusiness.com article on Oregon’s romance-novel industry. http://www.oregonbusiness.com/articles/82-march-2010/3069-oregons-romance-industry-grows-hot-and-steamy
Screenplay, stageplay formats
Posted in Fiction writing, tagged screenplay, stageplay on March 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Calling all screenplay and stageplay writers For free, downloadable software that automatically formats your writing according to industry standards, go to http://celtx.com.
The flashlight technique
Posted in Fiction writing, Non-fiction writing, Writing process (general), tagged Fiction writing, Non-fiction writing on March 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
When working on a long piece of writing (say more than five double-spaced pages), it can be difficult to see the whole project at one time. In such situations, it may seem like your brain is a box that is overflowing. It can only hold so much. One solution is to apply what I’ve come [...]
Ten rules for writing fiction
Posted in Fiction writing on February 26, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Click on the link below to read a Guardian article in which several authors offer writing advice. As you’ll see, not all the writers think alike. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one
Fiction writing: The reluctant hero
Posted in Fiction writing, tagged Fiction writing, reluctant hero on February 19, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Recently, one of my students brought to class an excerpt from a novel he was working on. At more than one point in the story, the main character stands up against the bad guys, members of an outlaw gang. “Why does he do that?” I asked, to help the writer uncover his character’s deeper motivations. [...]
