Scott and I maintain two blogs, Twitter feeds, and a Facebook page dedicated to creative writing instruction. I have discovered that readers prefer to choose how they receive updates and blog feeds, so we’ve tried to offer the most popular options. First, a reminder to visit the Tameri Guide for…
Category: Writing
Comments and suggestions on writing.
Humorous mystery writer W. S. Gager graciously agreed to be our first author interview for our reading and writing blog. I had fun coming up with questions to ask, but welcome any and all suggestions for future interviews. 1. What can you tell us about yourself? I’ve always been a…
I am about to teach a course on “The Essay” and that leads me to ask what is a blog? I know that blogging platforms, like WordPress, can be used to share fiction, poetry, technical manuals, and more, but in its general form of personal reflections what is a blog?…
I attended the Public Safety Writers Association 2011 Conference in Las Vegas this weekend. The attendees are not only authors of mystery, suspense, and thriller, many of them are also current and former law enforcement officers. Sitting among defense lawyers, prosecutors, retired military officers, firefighters, and others who really have…
I admit that I have long been skeptical of “self-publishing” in the print industry. The value of good editors and the supports provided to writers by traditional publishing houses is difficult to overstate. Yes, I realize the huge publishers are gatekeepers, selecting a handful of writers to promote, but they…
One of my favorite writing tools is Word Counter 2.1, from Supermagnus Software. http://www.supermagnus.com/mac/Word_Counter/ The price? Free. The value? To quote a popular credit card company, “Priceless.” If you’re like most of my students, you’re asking yourself, “Doesn’t every word processor include a word count function? What’s the big deal?”…
The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/) is one of the two websites I check when I have a writing related question. The other is the Tameri Guide, of course, since Susan and I tend to add content to Tameri based on our experiences writing and teaching. I…
When I read a story, I’m a “journey” reader. I want to read the “hero’s journey” or the “personal journey” story. I’m starting to believe more novelists and short story authors should read screenwriting books. Too many novels are poorly paced, with no compelling character development. I’ve admitted that I’m…
One of my colleagues has been working on a novel for decades. Yes, decades. Another writer I know has revised a script for at least a decade. I have piles of unfinished and neglected ideas, some two decades old, but I don’t have completed works that I have rewritten or…
I have been reading The Birth of Satan, a history of Satan in the three major monotheistic faiths and the rise of Satan as a literary and artistic character. The authors emphasize the Christian and Jewish traditions, since those have had the greatest effect on the mythology of Satan in…