Here’s one last rant sparked by a “how to write fiction” book that advised using “said/say” as the only dialogue verb (as in, "'I spent thirty dollars on jelly beans at Mont Tremblant this weekend,' she said.") (That is a true statement, sadly. They fool you with the $2.99/100g sign. I still think in pounds. "Grab a bag each,"… Continue reading He Said/ She Sighed Part 3 – Enough Already!
Author: Catherine Austen
I'm a Canadian author of books for all ages. My short stories are published in literary journals including The Fiddlehead and The New Quarterly. My books for young readers have won multiple awards, including the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award and the Quebec Writers Federation Prize for Children's Literature. I live with my family in Gatineau, Quebec.
He Said/She Sighed Part 2
I grabbed twenty books from the living room shelf, opened each to a random page, and checked out all the verbs used in dialogue. And here is what I learned: Almost all the authors used a simple “said” at least half the time. But none of them used said all the time. None. Not one.… Continue reading He Said/She Sighed Part 2
He Said/She Sighed – Part One
I dislike lists of rules for writing fiction. There are many good writers whose work I can’t stand. And many books I’ve loved that were obviously flawed. I would not advise anyone to make a paint-by-number novel. Big picture rules are good, like: A book should spend more words on important scenes and fewer words… Continue reading He Said/She Sighed – Part One
Friday Faves
I got an email from Goodreads informing me that I'd started reading The Complete Short Stories of Truman Capote 127 days ago and suggesting that I might want to update my progress. Oh yeah, Truman Capote's stories. Never finished them. Didn't grab me. But I did finish some other books in the last 127 days. So… Continue reading Friday Faves
Friday Fable: The Writer and her Publicist
You may know the old story of The Moon and her Mother: The moon once asked her mother to make her a cloak. Her mother snorted. "How can I make a cloak to fit you when you're always changing from a new moon to a full moon to everything in between?" The moon burst into… Continue reading Friday Fable: The Writer and her Publicist
Catherine Austen 