Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing, editing, heroic couplets, novel writing, sentence structure and rhythm, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips on 06 Feb 2014| Leave a Comment »
I do not care for the heroic couplet.
daDa-daDa-daDa-daDa-daDee,
daDa-daDa-daDa-daDa-daDee.
It’s fine for a short poem or sonnet, but when you stack one atop the other for stanza after stanza, it gets predictable, monotonous, and boring. It’s why A Midsummer Night’s Dream is my least favorite of Shakespeare’s plays, as a huge portion of it is written in heroic couplets.
What does this have to do with writing prose? Plenty.
Posted in Books, Writing, tagged beta reader, beta readers, editing, novel writing, self-publishing, ten year run, todd baker, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips on 14 Jan 2014| 1 Comment »
If you don’t have one, you need one. In fact, you need several.
I’m talking about beta readers, those folks you lure/ wheedle/ cajole/ beg/ entrap into reading your baby, promising them anything from sex to chocolate to whisky—for the record, that last one is the coin of my realm—in order to get their input, their take, their particular and specific impressions.
This weekend, I received the draft copy of a new memoir from the talented, wry, and always engaging Todd Baker, whose first book, Ten Year Run: A Marathoning Memoir, I was lucky enough to beta-read. His new work, about his lifelong love of heavy metal music, promises to be a hell of a lot of fun, not to mention a good dose of humor in a difficult time.
I’m lucky, also, in that Todd is one of my beta readers. (more…)
Posted in Books, Writing, tagged books, Characters, creative writing, favorite authors, favorite books, gabriel garcia marquez, Marcel Proust, reading lists, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, Writing, writing tips on 06 Jan 2014| 9 Comments »
Writers aren’t like normal people.
When writers read–be it a book, an article, or sometimes even a headline–we study, parse, and edit. We re-word what we read (“It would be better like this”), we laugh out loud at ugly phrases (“He threw up his hands”), and we will kick a book across the room before we’ll read another page filled with moronic characters and Swiss cheese plots.
This can take a lot of the enjoyment out of reading, but on the flip side, there are joys in reading only writers can experience. We have WIWI moments (“Wish I’d Written It!”) and can find ecstasy in a well-wrought sentence or a surprising image.
We also learn from reading. We learn a lot.
Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing, inspiration, novel writing, story ideas, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips on 30 Dec 2013| 6 Comments »
It is an unfortunate truth that inspiration usually strikes when you are least able to act upon it. The perfect solution to your living room furniture arrangement comes when you are away on holiday. The critical piece of a work problem comes when you are in the shower.
Today, I got an idea for a new story fifteen minutes before I had to be at work.
I’d just spent the holiday week relaxing, watching movies, streaming a new (to us) series, cooking a big meal of crab cioppino for friends, and puttering in the garage. During that time, my writer’s mind was a blank (aside from pangs of guilt over not working on my novel).
All week, nothing, and then this morning, just as I was preparing to get up and get back to the work-a-day monkey-boy grunt-job, bam.
I hate that.
Excuse me while I scribble down some notes…
k
Posted in Books, tagged book reviews, creative writing, Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Writing, writing tips on 09 Dec 2013| Leave a Comment »
Though they show no particular affinity for me, I love dogs.
At my core, I’m a cat person, but I adore the dogness of dogs and the unique relationship they can have with humans. And though it may sound strange, I love the humanity of dogs, their willingness to love us and to trust us (whether we deserve it or not).
It is not a surprise, therefore, that I enjoyed Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain. It’s told by a dog. It takes place in Seattle.
What is a surprise is how much I enjoyed it.
Seriously. This book is now on my Top Five list. As a reader, I loved it. As a writer, it taught me some lessons I’m ready to learn. (more…)
Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing, novel writing, Writing, writing longhand, writing methods, writing techniques, writing tips on 20 Nov 2013| 6 Comments »
What do writers have in common with baseball players?
We’re incredibly superstitious.
A writer friend composes all her novels on this laptop. She sits on the couch, has the computer on her lap, and types away. It’s the way she works (and boy, does she work!) Well, one day her laptop was giving her problems and we all piped up with suggestions such as getting a USB keyboard, putting it up on a TV tray, or working on the other computer for a while, etc. These suggestions were all shot down because all of them messed with her successful method. She writes in a certain way and anything that is not that certain way is simply unacceptable.
I’m the same way. If anything isn’t the way that’s worked for me in the past, it’s simply unacceptable.
Hence, my current problem. (more…)
Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing, novel writing, The Wolf Tree, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips on 13 Nov 2013| 2 Comments »
Pen has hit paper on The Wolf Tree.
Admittedly, it’s nothing to shout about. I’ve merely written and rewritten the opening line about two dozen times. We talked about opening lines a while back, and the decision I made then was to take more time working the opening line for this book. Well, I’ve been doing that.
Ever worked on a single sentence for three days? (more…)
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 