Here are two devices that have become very popular in recent years: the prologue and the epilogue. These are little pieces of text, generally only a few pages long, that precede the opening of a book (to set up the story) or after its “The End” (to explain what happens subsequently). Some people like them; some—me included—do not. But in response to the will of the people, I face inserting a prologue into a novel I’m working on. So let’s … Read More »

Perhaps it seems self-evident to warn “Don’t say the same thing over and over”—yet it needs to be said. Not because authors are a stupid lot (we aren’t), but because of the on-again-off-again nature of writing and other totally understandable things. Let me explain. I’m currently reading a good novel. The characters are interesting. The scenes are described well. The action comes on fast. Yet in the 25 pages I’ve read, it has been said no less than five times … Read More »

For those who celebrate Christmas, this is the season of reflecting on the incarnation of the Word. To bring that down to “word” with a small w and the rather less exalted profession of writing, that means that we who create novels are really taking inanimate words and spinning from them believable people and whole worlds that can pass for real. Pretty amazing, no? We give words flesh. Just As in Real Life… That’s where the old adage “Show, don’t … Read More »

It’s November again, and that—for those, who have ever participated—may still mean NaNoWriMo. Yes, November is the month when lots of writers across the country used to engage to write a whole novel before the clock strikes December. I’m not so sure rushing out a novel in four weeks is a great idea, myself. It can be done if one enters with all the background research and prep work accomplished. Even still, it has a downside. Although it’s no longer … Read More »

For most of the world —although maybe not most of Florida—fall is a time of change. The weather is changing; the days are growing shorter and the light more oblique. The leaves change color and go through a moment of glory before they say goodbye until next spring. Some people find autumn melancholy, because we’re sliding into winter. But if you’re like me, you find it tonic. Change does a body good! It does a writer good too. Call it … Read More »

If a word exists it’s because there’s a reasonable, targeted use for it someplace (like there). But often, we writers fall into a habit of overusing it and its various forms. Sometimes this is due to the word’s prevalence in informal speech, which has fewer rules—and is lazier—than writing.  At that point, our word starts to become diluted, having very little meaning. And certainly, we all want to avoid watered-down vocabulary. At least, some of us do. Something Vague This … Read More »