I ran across a place the other day that had a free “how to prepare for writing your novel” worksheet. Since I’m starting a new novel and I’m always curious about this stuff, I downloaded it on a whim. The worksheet turns out to be a list
Read more →For several decades now, I have been a staunch supporter of the notion that “good writing” is subjective, and therefore not a terribly useful standard for people who want to become writers. Looking at my recent posts, it’s been a while since I talked about this directly
Read more →I thought the nonsense about “weak verbs” in fiction died some time during the pandemic. Apparently, I was wrong; somebody helpfully forwarded a list of “weak verbs you should never use in your writing” recently. Which inspired this post. The first problem with talking about “weak verbs”
Read more →Probably the third or fourth thing I get asked by would-be writers—after “Where do you get your ideas?”, “Are you working on the next book? When will it be finished?”, and “I have this great idea; how about you write it and we split the money?”—is “How
Read more →Once again, I have been driven to frothing at the mouth by a would-be writer-and-critiquer’s thick-headedness in regard to both the construction of the English language and the so-called rules he’s trying to apply, and you folks are going to have to put up with the resulting
Read more →A bit ago, I got asked to do my standard rant on this. I put it off ’til the book was done, but it’s done now. So here’s the short form: Read a story. Does it work? Yes? Then it’s good. The problem with the term “good
Read more →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
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