Monthly Archives: June 2009

The trouble with trilogies

June 30, 2009 – 5:35 pm

I have a confession to make:  I have never deliberately written a trilogy before in my life. Yes, I know, there are four Enchanted Forest books, and three Kate and Cecy books, and the Lyra series, and so on. But with all of those, I didn’t set out to write more than one book. I [...]

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Cinderella at the Rock Concert

June 25, 2009 – 9:46 am

Last weekend, at 4th Street Fantasycon, somebody asked me for a post that I did years back on Usenet, on the difference between the way short story writers and novelists might develop the same basic story idea. Here it is: Basically, short stories require a tight focus and a single, central plot thread; in a [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in Writing | Tagged , , | Comments (10)

Life and some recommended reading

June 22, 2009 – 9:17 am

Spent a glorious weekend at Fourth Street Fantasycon, of which more anon, I hope. Now my car is busted AGAIN and I’m waiting for them to come and tow it to the garage to fix the ignition switch. And I think I should get my cat to the vet before I leave for Chicago, but I [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in Mailbag, Reading | Tagged , , , | Comments (16)

Stories are a way of life

June 21, 2009 – 7:08 am

When I was a kid, my father told us bedtime stories. The five of us would get together in our pajamas and sit around on the biggest bed in the house, and Dad would turn the lights down or off and start talking. Unlike many parents who do this sort of thing, he never, to the [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in Family, General | Tagged , | Comments (3)

A Rant on Passive voice

June 14, 2009 – 8:10 pm

I have just finished arguing with a would-be writer who a) is convinced that passive voice is evil and must be avoided at all times, and b) has, it turns out, no idea at all what passive voice actually is. I am therefore going to rant. Passive voice is not when something has been allowed [...]

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Rain!

June 8, 2009 – 10:09 am

Rain is a good thing, at least right here, right now. We’ve been badly in need of it…and we finally got some this weekend. It’s still wet and drippy and dark out, which means that a) I don’t have to do any yard work today, and b) the cats are curled up in their favorite [...]

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There is no One True Way

June 4, 2009 – 10:07 am

One of the things you find a lot in writing books are prescriptions:  This is THE (only right and workable best) way to write/develop a career as a writer. And they’re wrong. Or so I think, anyway. There is no One True Way to write. (This is practically my motto, and has been for years.) [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , | Comments (7)