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Tag Archives: how to write
Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, part VI — Final Thoughts
This week I close out my Professional Wednesday feature on “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings” with some general observations about narrative structure. If you are just coming to this series of posts, I would recommend you go back and read the … Continue reading
Posted in Angry Robot Books, Business of publishing, Falstaff Books, Novels, Publishing, Reading, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged Angle of Repose, blogging, business of publishing, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, how to write, Islevale Cycle, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, narrative, publishing, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino, Sound and the Fury, Wallace Stegner, William Faulkner, writing, writing advice, writing business, writing life, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, part V — What Makes a Good Ending?
Continuing my Professional Wednesday feature on “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings,” (previous posts can be found here, here, here, and here) I now turn to endings. And I will begin by stating the obvious: The ending to our story is likely … Continue reading
Posted in Falstaff Books, Fantasy, Islevale Cycle, Novels, Reading, Setting, Short Fiction, Thieftaker, Writing
Tagged blogging, Casablanca, character development, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Guy Gavriel Kay, how to write, Islevale Cycle, Lord of the Rings, narrative, narrative arc, Thieftaker Chronicles, three-act structure, Tigana, Time's Assassin, writing, writing advice, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, part IV — Keeping Our Plots Tight
Today, I bring you one more “Middles” post in my several-weeks-long feature on “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings.” You can find past posts in the series here, here, and here. I made the self-evident point a couple of weeks ago that … Continue reading
Posted in Angry Robot Books, Bell Bridge Books, Belle Books, Business of publishing, Falstaff Books, Invasives, Islevale Cycle, Novels, Publishing, Radiants, The Chalice War, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, how to write, Islevale Cycle, organic writing, outlining, pacing, Radiants, revising, The Chalice War, Tor Books, Vernor Vinge, Vernor's Rule, Winds of the Forelands, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, part III — The 60% Wall
Today, I add to my series of posts about “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings,” with a continued focus on the vast middle of the novel. If you wish to go back and read my first two essays in this feature on … Continue reading
Posted in Character, Novels, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, character, character development, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, how to write, narrative, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, part II — Narrative Structure
Last week, I began a new Professional Wednesday feature called “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings,” in which I plan to write about the various parts of story writing. In last week’s post, I focused on openings, on how to approach the … Continue reading
Posted in movies, Novels, Reading, Thieftaker, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, harry potter, how to write, J.R.R. Tolkien, narrative, plotting, revisions, The Hobbit, Thieftaker, three-act structure, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, Part I — Openings
This week, I launch a new series here in the Professional Wednesday feature — “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings.” Sometimes I focus on minute details of writing in these posts, arcane points of craft or business that are helpful to some, … Continue reading
Posted in Bell Bridge Books, Belle Books, Friendship, Novels, Radiants, Short Fiction, Writing
Tagged Bell Bridge Books, Belle Books, blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, friendship, Guy Gavriel Kay, how to write, J.D. Blackrose, Joelle Reizes, novels, opening lines, openings, Radiants, short fiction, writing, writing advice, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: Trust Yourself. No, Really.
Trust your reader. This is editor speak for “trust yourself.” It is something I say often to many of the writers I edit. But what does it mean? I have had my own lesson in “trust your reader” in recent … Continue reading
Posted in Business of publishing, Character, Fantasy, Novels, Setting, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, character, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, how to write, narrative, plotting, publishing, revising, Rules of Ascension, setting, Tor Books, Winds of the Forelands, world building, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: Eliminating Excess Verbiage, Part II
Last week, I revisited an old Magical Words post I’d done about eliminating excess verbiage in our writing, putting a new spin on the discussion. As promised, I would like to continue that conversation today. Before I dive back into … Continue reading
Posted in Novels, Publishing, Short Fiction, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged adverbs, blogging, concision, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, dialogue, editing, how to write, publishing, self-editing, writing, writing advice, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: Eliminating Excess Verbiage, Part I
As I mentioned in a recent post, I have been doing a tremendous amount of editing and revising these past several months. Between co-editing (with Edmund Schubert) the Artifice and Craft anthology for Zombies Need Brains, revising my upcoming Chalice … Continue reading
Posted in Novels, Publishing, Short Fiction, The Chalice War, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged Artifice and Craft, blogging, concision, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Edmund R. Schubert, how to write, passive voice, publishing, The Chalice War, writing, writing advice, writing tips, Zombies Need Brains
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Professional Wednesday: When To Fight an Edit, and When To Let it Go
I know my knee-jerk response is not always my wisest response. All of us who have gone through the editorial process are familiar with the conundrum: We want to work with our editors. We want to cultivate reputations for being … Continue reading
Posted in Character, Novels, Reading, Short Fiction, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, character, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, editor-writer relationship, editorial process, editors, how to write, plotting, publishing, revision process, revisions, wording, working with editors, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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