Kill Your Darlings by Renee Shadel This old writing advice has been passed down from teacher to student since the early 1900s, and by many authors such as William Faulkner, Agatha Christie, John Gardner, Stephen King, and Neil Gaiman just to name a few, in some form or another. The definition or items covered under […]
Yes, I admit, I am a bit of adverb Nazi. Perhaps over the top at times, perhaps not. I learned my lesson with the first novel I wrote when I stumbled upon an article that spoke the atrocities of adverbs. It challenged me to do a search for every -ly word in my prose. I […]
There is nothing so annoying as the blank page. It sneers and laughs. The blank page mocks. I look at it and hear the clamor of words; see the hazy images of half-formed ideas. All smothered by the endless white. Impotence breeds hesitation. Today, I need a coffee. I stare at the pen clutched in my fingers. […]
He stood on the other side of the door. I knew it was him. For weeks I felt his presence, a movement at the edge of my vision, a shadow in the mirror disappearing when I leaned in for a closer look. Now he stood on my front stoop, dressed in purple pajamas or a […]
Writing is one of the most personal, agonizing and intoxicating journeys on which one can embark. It is the act of creation, from the moment the initial idea exists as a mere gleam in the writer’s eye until it is fully captured in print. At this point you are a writer. Congratulations! If your only goal is to […]