Clipboards? Those remnants of the writer’s Stone Tablet Age? In this explosive Age of iPads, tablets, laptops, endlessly propagating apps, smart watches that make your coffee, and GPS trackers that pin down your editor in the Hamptons and remind her…
Arabesques by David Massey
I have read critics who referred to Henry James’s syntax as involute and to William Faulkner’s as convolute. I do not know that there is any real distinction to be made between the two descriptions; both styles are arabesque; and…
More on the Suspension of Disbelief by David Massey
I previously wrote a few words on the importance to the writer of the suspension of disbelief. I would like to say a little more because I did not say all that I feel on that topic. Samuel Taylor Coleridge…
Second Person: Write down, not up by Adam Dove
Second person is like the lonely middle child of writing perspectives. Everybody knows first person, because it’s always talking about itself. It just feels kind of natural, like it’s always been there. And third person – everybody wants to be…
Discontinuity in Fiction by David Massey
Morse Peckham, a professor under whom I took a class in graduate school, had a theory that the role of the arts in a complex, stressful society is to provide discontinuity, so that people might rehearse the experience of it…
Guest Post: The Tiny Writing Lifestyle by Diane D. Gillette
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of tiny houses. Tiny is the current craze in the housing industry which means there are a plethora of tiny house TV shows to feed my obsession — which is anything but tiny!…
Selfies vs. Traditional Publishing – Which Style Fits You Best?
Self-publishing outstripped the traditional publishing market in terms of titles produced around 2010. Yes, you might agree, but how many of those titles are complete rubbish? Furthermore, selfies are the ones who got rejected from real publishers so what could…
How to Really Write That Book (The Finishing Touch) – Part 3
The Finale You’ve put words on a page. Thousands of them and hundreds of lines. Take a minute to look at the word count at the bottom of your screen. Yes. You did this. And just like standing on top…
How to Really Write That Book – Part 1
Yes, there are parts and I’ll tell you why. It takes more than a good idea to make it onto the NYT best-seller list. There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re going to eat an elephant, do it…
You Are a Writer: Dress the Part
Some say you are what you eat, while for others it’s all about what you wear. We can achieve a lot in our fiction by how we dress our characters: clothes can indicate setting, either geographical or historical; can reflect…
Rejection Equals Success
This week I received my first rejection of 2014. This may sound odd, but I hope it’s the first of many. You see, receiving rejections means two very good things. First, my work is out there in the world being…