Where Normal Need Not Apply
Over a thousand writers stared at their phones yesterday, willing them to ring. Only around 150 of them received the call they were waiting for. Yesterday the Romance Writers of America (RWA) announced the Golden Heart and RITA finalists. One of the largest writing organizations in the world released the names of the finalists for their […]
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In my last post about Google search terms, I mentioned that we sometimes have lots of content around a search’s keywords and yet have never answered the question directly. In that case, Google just gave us an idea for a blog post. *smile* One search term that led people to my blog this past month was “What do […]
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After the last few weeks of “serious issues,” I needed a silly break, so I looked up the search terms that recently brought people to my blog. Google didn’t disappoint, as several phrases caught my eye. Every blogger should check the search terms associated with their blog occasionally, and not just for amusement. If someone […]
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My post about the ethics of fan fiction went viral this week, spreading beyond even the Twilight fandom. From a post on mediabistro/GalleyCat to mentions at Dear Author, Jezebel, The Paris Review, and AbsoluteWrite, people have been discussing ethics in regards to writing and the publishing industry. I don’t bring that up to brag but to […]
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No, that’s not a rhetorical or trick question. Recent events in the publishing industry have left me asking that as a serious point of confusion and discouragement. I know this is an ongoing complaint about the state of literature. Over a century ago, people complained about penny dreadfuls and dime novels, and then moved on to complaints […]
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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare Wow, Bill, you have no idea how ahead of your time you were. I know it must be hard to believe, but hundreds of years after you made this insightful observation through […]
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Fan fiction, also known as fanfic, refers to stories written by fans about the characters, situations, or world of existing works created by others. This definition sounds broad because the world of fanfic is broad. On some level, everything from Wicked, inspired by The Wizard of Oz, to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies could fall under the umbrella […]
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In my post last week asking if we can have too much voice, some great questions came up in the comments. I decided to turn them into “Ask Jami” blog posts rather than bury the answers in the comment string. Earlier, I shared ideas on how to use color-coding to check if we’re “overusing” a writing element. […]
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We’ve all seen the Google Friend Connect (GFC) widgets on websites and blogs we visit. Some sites have asked us to join GFC to qualify for a contest or giveaway. On our own blogs, we enjoy seeing the avatars of our readers (and the numbers of our “members” go up). However, Google is retiring GFC […]
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In my last blog post, where I shared the “two-paragraph guideline,” some great questions came up in the comments. Rather than bury the answers in the comment string, I decided to turn them into “Ask Jami” posts. Today, we’re talking about how to make sure we’re using all the various writing elements. Next week, I’ll give […]
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