Archive for August, 2011
Posted in August 30th, 2011
So… I admit it. I, with my 305 page first draft of a novel, which I have edited and rewritten and tweaked, yes, I thought my work was likely the most complete and most compelling of the writing that we would encounter in the novel writing workshop. But the third sample arrived from another group […]
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Posted in August 30th, 2011
Very interesting article. A sample: MR: Red Lemonade allows people to view free of charge complete manuscripts of books you have for sale. You’ve mentioned that having access to the full text online will help readers make up their minds and commit to buying a hard copy. This view differs from a general reluctance of […]
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Posted in August 30th, 2011
I’m not sure if I have previously posted that I am taking an 8 week novel writing workshop. I’m too lazy to look back to see. We have just finished week 3. Part of the workshop (the biggest part, apparently) is having each writer submit a 15 page sample of their work which the rest […]
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Posted in August 23rd, 2011
Sigh… I’ve commented on the sorry state of modern particle physics before and how I thought they were a dog chasing their own tail… Now some leading physicists seem to be agreeing with what I’ve been saying for almost 20 years now. And, after spending TRILLIONS of dollars and squandering the greatest scientific minds of […]
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Posted in August 19th, 2011
OK, so let’s assume that you master the basic rules of spelling and grammar, and you’ve even managed to work out the use of active voice in your story. Is it compelling yet? Sadly, no. Look at your story. Now look at mine. Now back to yours. Now back to mine. Sadly yours is not […]
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Posted in August 19th, 2011
So all of the web research I’ve done on writing query letters and engaging a literary agent say that the way to get your book published is for it to be “compelling.” What it shouldn’t be is “boring” or “derivative” or “confusing”… But when you try to dig down and determine what makes a story […]
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Posted in August 19th, 2011
People who know me know that I rarely get excited about anything. Consider it a character flaw, or consider it a deeply ingrained cynicism based on my life experiences. Doesn’t matter, the end result is just that I almost never get excited enough to grin and say “Oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!” But I […]
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Posted in August 18th, 2011
OK, so I’ve completed a first draft. I’ve even done a couple of significant rewrites and done several editing passes. Just a few hours ago I was feeling pretty good about myself. Then I decided to do some research about the next steps, and I am starting to wonder if writing the damn book is […]
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Posted in August 18th, 2011
Reporting from Washington— For the next two months at Logan International Airport in Boston, passengers will be casually greeted by Transportation Security Administration officials. But the officers aren’t there for a friendly “hello” — they’re trying to deter and detect passengers who pose a risk to aviation security. As part of the TSA’s new behavior-detection […]
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Posted in August 18th, 2011