smokingpen | March 8, 2008
If the act of writing is important, the next question that comes to mind is: What should I write?
For me, answering that question is as simple as determining what is a) it that I am interested in; b) what am I currently reading (e.g. news, fiction, scripts, and etc.); c) what has changed in my [...]
smokingpen | February 7, 2008
I went to Kristin Nelson’s blog, she is a literary agent out of Denver, CO. She links to Joelle Anthony’s site where Anthony lists 25 Things to Avoid when Writing Y/A Novels. Her list compiles 25 things that (may) be overused in current Y/A literature and writing. I am not interested in copying her list [...]
smokingpen | December 5, 2007
I picked up a book on writing short stories a couple of years ago. On occasion, I go back to that book and read bits and pieces of it. My intent is not to write short fiction, but rather to write long fiction. My problem, whenever I start a short project I get stuck realizing [...]
smokingpen | November 22, 2007
I recently picked up a copy of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and read the whole thing. This was an entertaining book written by an author that goes by the name AVI. You can walk into almost any bookstore, go to the children’s section, look under Independent Reader ages 8 – 12 and you [...]
smokingpen | November 6, 2007
Some time ago I would look at a writing project and think, “In order to start this I have to write about the big picture, show the macro view of the world and then start zooming in.” I don’t know what that meant. During the transition from a young writer to a (slightly) more experienced [...]
smokingpen | October 31, 2007
So, you have an idea and want to follow it. The idea is taking a dog, who can talk, a cat who can’t, a couple of kids and an adult who lives in a sewage drain and they are going to go on an adventure.
You have a good idea where the characters all start… most [...]
smokingpen | September 13, 2007
There is some confusion in the world about appropriate description for a story. Granted, there are no “cut and dry” answers on how to do description; but there are ways to assist in visualizing what needs to be done to make the scenes you are trying to write pop off the page and come to [...]
