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Writing Stuff

What Drives a Story: Plot or Characters?

Dog sled in the snow

Wish me luck.  I’m about to dive into one of the eternal debates among writers.  Which is “better”: a plot-driven story or a character-driven story? If you’re not familiar with the debate, let me explain why this question is so fraught with potential landmines.  A common snub against genre stories […]

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July 26, 2011

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What’s Your Blogging Style?

Mannequin heads with men's hair styles

Last week, Cheryl Reif asked the question on her blog:  Short or Long? Which Way to Post…  She wondered if people preferred reading blog posts that weighed in at the “recommended” 300 words, or if people enjoyed longer posts. Anyone who reads my blog knows I don’t follow the 300 […]

July 21, 2011

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Writer Resource: Thesaurus Collections at The Bookshelf Muse

Dust Storm in Phoenix area July, 2011

Last year, I discovered the fantastic resources available for writers at The Bookshelf Muse blog.  Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have created valuable references for writers with their thesaurus collections. The Emotion Thesaurus gives lists of all the different ways to show an emotion (including non-cliché ones!).  The Setting Thesaurus includes […]

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July 14, 2011

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The Green Lantern Movie: How *Not* to Write Characters

Hal Jordan with Green Lantern ring

Last time, I used the Green Lantern movie to illustrate how not to plot a story.  This time, we’re going to look at the Green Lantern characters. As noted before, Green Lantern felt superficial and formulaic.  Sure, it’d be easy to say that it was a comic book movie and therefore […]

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July 7, 2011

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The Green Lantern Movie: How *Not* to Plot a Story

Green Lantern Movie image

I recently saw the Green Lantern movie.  I know, I know.  The reviews were terrible, but I often enjoy turn-brain-off movies.  This fun-but-dumb superhero action flick definitely fit the bill. But the real entertainment came after the movie, as my family and I analyzed why this superhero movie failed compared to other […]

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July 5, 2011

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How Vulnerable is Your Writing?

Woman with hand out, blocking face, like saying "Don't look at me."

A few weeks ago, we talked about about branding and blogging and how to create connections with others.  People who feel connected to us are more likely to be willing to give our book a try or to help us promote.  Connected readers might become our front lines in our […]

June 30, 2011

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How to Find Writer Resources – Guest: Elizabeth Spann Craig

Elizabeth S. Craig photo

If you’re a writer and on Twitter, you should know about the incomparable Elizabeth S. Craig.  She shares fantastic resources for writers that she finds all over the web, like a one-woman news source. More importantly, if you’re a writer—whether you’re on Twitter or not—you should know about her Writer’s […]

June 23, 2011

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What Makes a Character Unlikable?

Frowning

Believe it or not, I sometimes actually follow my own advice.  *smile*  Recently, I helped score a few contest entries, just like I recommend in my post about why all writers should volunteer to judge contests. One of the entries was—I’m afraid there’s no nice way to say this—dreadful.  The […]

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June 21, 2011

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Branding 101: To Pen Name or Not to Pen Name

Three theater masks

When we think of pen names, we often consider the privacy or marketing aspects and assume that means using a name completely different from our real name, such as Samuel Clemens writing as Mark Twain.  But they can also address the need to make our names more distinctive and Google-able.

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June 7, 2011

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Branding 101: Be Google-able

Pen resting on signature line

If someone does a Google search on our author name, will they find us? This issue comes up more frequently now as writers want to know if they should have a website and/or blog before they’re published.  That’s a complicated question that doesn’t have an easy answer.

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June 2, 2011

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