Tag Archives: amateurism

On Being a Professional Amateur #1

Posted on February 13, 2013 by

To be an amateur in the original sense of the word simply means to do something for love, though our culture has added the rider, “not for pay.” An amateur writer, then, is generally taken to mean one who’s not … Continue reading →


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Dueling with Words: Dialogue and Action, Part 1

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

My annual stint in an online writers’ conference (the Catholic Writer’s Conference, of which I’ve been a non-Catholoic guest for the past several years) has me doing a chat workshop on writing dialogue and action. And, as often happens, this … Continue reading →


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Forging Stories 3: Passive Aggressive Behavior

Posted on February 15, 2012 by

Perhaps the first thing we’re taught as fiction writers is that passive voice is the literary equivalent of a clogged artery.  “Use active voice,” we’re told. What exactly does that mean? Here’s an example: “Chelsea dove for cover. The sound … Continue reading →


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Forging Stories 2: The Tools of the Trade

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

Ursula LeGuin has said that an artist’s job was to “put into words what cannot be put into words.”  Writers, she says, must do this with words. Using words, we must capture action, character, place, and emotion. The words that … Continue reading →


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The “Rules” of Writing

Posted on February 3, 2010 by

Robert Heinlein posited that there were two rules of writing: 1.  You must write.2.  You must finish what you write. That’s easy enough to say, but how does one go about it? Well, let’s look at Rule One: you must … Continue reading →


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EVERGREEN: On Becoming a Professional Amateur # 16: Some Writing Safety Tips

Posted on March 4, 2009 by

To finish off this series, I’d like to offer a smattering of “safety tips” that have come out of the mentoring and workshops I’ve done over the years. Some of these I’ve come by as the result of struggling with … Continue reading →


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EVERGREEN: On Becoming a Professional Amateur # 15: Characters, Their Care and Feeding

Posted on February 25, 2009 by

In every work of fiction, characters assume different levels of importance. There are vital, primary characters (the protagonist, the antagonist), secondary characters (companions, love interests, foils), and (to use film terminology) bit players, walk-ons, and extras. One way we signal … Continue reading →


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EVERGREEN: On Becoming a Professional Amateur # 14: When to Hide the Thesaurus

Posted on February 18, 2009 by

Sample paragraph: I saw Hal coming toward me across the office commons, waving. “What did the boss say?” he screeched. “Oh, Ron, please tell me he didn’t fire you!” he squealed. If you read my last post, this should be … Continue reading →


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EVERGREEN: On Becoming a Professional Amateur # 13: Kill Bad Verbs Before They Kill Your Story

Posted on February 11, 2009 by

Sample paragraph: I saw Hal coming toward me across the office commons, waving. “What did the boss say?” he screeched. I shook my head and waved him away. “I don’t want to talk about it, Hal.” “Oh, Ron,” he squealed. … Continue reading →


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EVERGREEN: On Becoming a Professional Amateur # 12: Because the Writer Said So

Posted on February 4, 2009 by

Sample scenario: A detective is in a car crash and passes out twice in the flaming wreck, which he escapes at great peril. Five minutes later he just gets up and flags down a passing cop. “Hey,” the detective says … Continue reading →


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