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5 Ramblings for 2017
Today is a series of rambles, comments on a variety of things. Why do we keep on writing? I ask myself this at least monthly, if not weekly and daily. Why? And there are many answers. Because there’s a story to finish. Because there are readers to please. Because I can’t NOT write. Putting words […]
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Interviews: Research for Fiction and Nonfictoin
The next time you need information for your story, fiction or nonfiction, pick up the phone. Internet and library research only takes you so far. Sooner or later, you need an expert that means a phone interview. Here’s how to prepare for the interview, conduct the interview and use the interview. First, think about how […]
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Subplots: Keeping Other Story Lines in Check
I’m working on a science fiction novel right now, the second book of a trilogy, the Blue Planet Series. Book 1 is done, and Book 2 has a full draft that I’m revising. Book 3 is in outline form. The premise of the series is this: “Earth finally hears from space. “You only live on […]
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Artistic Vision Determines Novel Revision: How to Tell the Story You Want to Tell
Learning from a Different Art Form Lately, I’ve been studying photography. My husband upgraded to a newer, fancier SLR camera, so I got his hand-me-down Canon Rebel, which is great for learning. And I’m learning a lot about my creative process, which comes back to tell me things about my writing. Let me try to […]
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OOPS! Continuity in Your Novel
Let’s say that Marilyn is introduced in Chapter 1 of your novel as a blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty. But in Chapter 10 when she reappears, she’s a brunette. Oops! It’s a break in continuity. How does that happen? I was once in a school library where the librarian was administering Accelerated Reader tests, which text a […]
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Expert Help: Defeat the Black Hole
Everyone knows that you can’t defeat a black hole. Right? But what if you’re writing a science fiction story and you NEED your characters to defeat the black hole. Um. Hard. Your readers won’t go there with you, unless. . . Seek Experts That’s exactly the situation I found myself in. I had set up […]