Update Please read this follow-up post: We’re Back! I really don’t know. One day I had a beautiful website, and when I looked again a couple of days later, I found this: I’m using the Astra Pro theme on WordPress. The Astra support people are working with me to figure out what happened here, but […]
What the Heck Is Going On? Read More »
With a nod to NaNoWriMo, this month’s quotations focus on how novelists approach the process of creating a novel. Last week featured two quotations from writers who don’t outline their novels, so it’s only fair to include a representative from the other side of the issue here: “I do a very concise outline. Part of
Quotation: On Outlining a Novel Read More »
The lofty goals and short life of the antiracist book club “After George Floyd’s death, many white Americans formed book clubs. A year later, they’re wondering, ‘What now?’” Today, just a few of the antiracist book clubs formed during the height of protests soldier on. They’re taking their time to learn how America got this
Related Post: Quotation: Are You a Plotter or a Pantser? “Like many writers I know, I do not (so far) outline my work in advance. I begin a novel with a destination in mind but the route is vague. Any attempt to map the journey will, I worry, render the unwritten pages artificial and ridiculous.”
Quotation: Are You a Plotter or a Pantser (Again)? Read More »
Those of you participating in NaNoWriMo will know what that question means: Do you plot out your novel beforehand, or do you compose by the seat of your pants? As a nonfiction writer, I’m way over on the plotter side of this spectrum. However, I have had the experience of writing in flow, during which
Quotation: Are You a Plotter or a Pantser? Read More »
How Gruesome Penny Dreadfuls Got Victorian Children Reading “Despite causing a moral panic, these salacious tales helped boost literacy in Victorian England.” Even if you don’t read the article, take a gander at the illustrations. I’m Glad I Don’t Picture Anything When I Read Here’s an article on aphantasia or “mind blindness.” It attracted my
This month we begin with Sigrid Nunez’s What Are You Going Through. Here’s the description from Goodreads: A woman describes a series of encounters she has with various people in the ordinary course of her life: an ex she runs into by chance at a public forum, an Airbnb owner unsure how to interact with
6 Degrees of Separation: “Messy, messy lives” Read More »
Because it’s NaNoWriMo, all this month’s quotations will swirl around the general topic of writing fiction. Here’s a suggestion on how to get started. “Once you create the character — if the character is really well done, complex enough and interesting enough — the character is going to create the story for you. . .
Quotation: On Characters Read More »
President Joe Biden has issued a proclamation naming November 2021 as National Native American Heritage Month, a time to “celebrate the countless contributions of Native peoples past and present, honor the influence they have had on the advancement of our Nation, and recommit ourselves to upholding trust and treaty responsibilities, strengthening tribal sovereignty, and advancing
President Biden Declares November National Native American Heritage Month | Currents Read More »
I don’t write fiction. However, I know that a lot of you who read and review novels also write them. So it’s only right that we all greet NaNoWriMo. Do you participate in NaNoWriMo? If you do, I’ll be reading while you’re writing. For both the readers and the writers, here’s some information on the
Hello, National Novel Writing Month! Read More »
