Monthly Archives: December 2011

Imagination

December 28, 2011 – 8:17 am

The holiday season is a time for parties, especially the sort of parties that people throw in order to introduce interesting friends and neighbors to other interesting friends and neighbors they haven’t met but might like. It’s a great way to meet interesting people, and the first thing most of them ask is, “So, what [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in General, Writing | Tagged , , | Comments (8)

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2011 – 6:18 am

Merry Christmas (or midwinter holiday of your choice), everybody! I’m mostly taking the day off, but I couldn’t leave you with nothing at all on the blog, so I thought I would give you some links. As some of you may recall, back in September I had a three-day visit from a team of video [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in Family, General | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Metaphorical manuals

December 21, 2011 – 6:30 am

This summer, I got a new car. Well, new to me – it belonged to Dad for several years, until he decided that with Mom gone, he didn’t really need two cars and he liked the other one better. Anyway, it’s a 2008 model, with lots of snazzy bells and whistles that I’ve never had [...]

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When they don’t wanna

December 18, 2011 – 6:55 am

One of the most frustrating things that happens to writers is having a batch of characters worked into just the right spot for the plot to take off…and discovering that they won’t do whatever is supposed to come next. When you want your characters to go left, and they want to go right, there are three [...]

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A few things not to do

December 14, 2011 – 6:01 am

In the last couple of months, I’ve had the opportunity to observe a number of new writers doing things that…well, to say they don’t work is a serious understatement. I’m not talking about the writing itself, at the moment. I’m talking about the business end. There are oodles of lists of what not to do [...]

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Decisions, decisions

December 11, 2011 – 9:29 am

A while back, I was talking with a young writer who was bogged down in mid-novel. The conversation went something like this (with names and plot points changed to protect the guilty): Writer: “I’m totally stuck. My characters are down in the ravine and I don’t know what happens next.” Me: “Sounds familiar.” Writer (despairing): [...]

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Learning About Ebooks

December 7, 2011 – 6:34 am

A while back, I did a post on electronic publishing in general, in which I stated that I didn’t know much, but nobody else does, either, yet. In the interim, I’ve learned a bit more, and I thought this would be a good time to share, because next week, the five Lyra books are being [...]

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Too many, too much

December 4, 2011 – 6:24 am

There’s a problem I’ve noticed cropping up more and more often lately, in the way some authors first develop and then over-develop their plots and subplots, allowing both them and their characters to proliferate beyond the ability of mere mortals to keep track of them all, until the whole edifice starts crumbling under its own [...]

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