Welcome back to our discussion about the writer’s voice!  If you’ve worked through the exercises in Oh, Those Voice (Part 1),  you should have some idea about the nature of your raw voice. That is your starting point. As writers we need to be able to shape our voice each time we write. And for each thing we write it may be a differently shaped voice. Still yours, but molded to fit what you are writing. And, hopefully, a voice … Read More »

The herring fish of Eugene Field’s poem “Winken, Blinken and Nod” was probably a special glittering creature, because the fishermen went after them with nets of silver and gold. Writers, on the other hand, are always interested in the infamous red herring. A device especially employed in mysteries, it can be used in other genres as well. What is a red herring and how can it be a helpful item on your authorial menu? Let’s take a look. A false … Read More »

Happy New Year! And what a better way to start than tackling one of the knottiest issues in writing: voice. We were born with a voice. So why is it many manuscripts get rejected because an agent/editor says there’s no voice? Then we authors go off frantically searching for our voice as though we’d misplaced it somewhere. The truth of the matter is that you have a voice. It’s just that, often, an author’s voice doesn’t work for a number … Read More »

Star Wars fans aren’t the only ones obsessed with The Mandalorian. The Disney+ series, now in its second season, is five times more popular than any other program on the streaming service. Jon Favreau and his contributing writers have accomplished what no one thought was possible: adapting a brand new Star Wars storyline that is beloved by both old and new fans. This was something the three prequels couldn’t seem to do. Not only did Favreau switch back to the … Read More »

When I go to the grocery store, I like to have a list in hand. It helps me stay on track and (most of the time) keeps me from veering off into the chip/snack/candy aisle for something I don’t really need. That being said, I like to give myself the freedom to explore the “off list” aisles for new and interesting things that may or may not find their way into my cart. When I thought about the process of … Read More »

My blog today is addressed mainly to those of my colleagues who are writing a series or a trilogy, and it’s probably something you already know, but a reminder never hurts. You’ve started off your series with a great book that plunged us immediately into the time and place. Something spectacular has happened to start a chain reaction that will play out over the next few volumes. And finally, you stuck your ending, and readers are breathing heavily and saying, … Read More »