I keep a writing journal in which I write scenes by hand, work out plots, explore characters, make note of submissions, and - most important of all - jot down ideas for new books. I've kept writing journals for years and they contain some wonderful work that I've used in my books or plan to use in… Continue reading When Good Ideas go Bad
Category: writing
Friday Fable: the Writer and the Missing Links
You may know the old story, "The Fox and the Goat:" Prologue: A fox fell into a well and couldn't get out on his own. He swam there for a while making plans... 5 hours later: A goat was walking through the farm, just minding his own business eating a shirt, when the fox called to him from inside the… Continue reading Friday Fable: the Writer and the Missing Links
Friday Fable: The Writer and the Word Limit
You may have heard the old story, The Crow and the Pitcher: A crow was nearly dead of thirst when he spied a pitcher of water on a picnic table just beside the dried-up river bed. He flew over and tried to take a sip but, alas, the pitcher was close to empty. Only an inch… Continue reading Friday Fable: The Writer and the Word Limit
He Said/ She Sighed Part 3 – Enough Already!
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!
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
Catherine Austen 