Today, communication fans, I’d like to dismantle four sentence-like sequences of words that have something in common: muddled meanings caused by a poor (or possibly clever) choice of words. Who said them and with what intent is irrelevant to the … Continue reading
… in my reading. I opened up the copy of the Federalist Papers I keep on my iPad, and saw that I’d highlighted a passage some time ago. I read it to see if it still resonated. Yes, I really … Continue reading
While out for lunch with my youngest daughter, we beheld a gathering of blue and gold Macaws apparently chatting while their custodian is having a meal at Boulanger. They are not tethered in any way, nor was their guardian anywhere in … Continue reading
My post today comes from my personal website and is part of my THIS IS… series, which I started just to share random things that I find cool or interesting or annoying or special in some way. This is one of … Continue reading
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 my own craft and some … Continue reading
My daughter, Kristine, reads constantly. The day I originally wrote this little essay, she was, in fact, sitting in the living room reading Lord of the Rings with a stack of history books and Jane Austen-related material next to her chair. She … Continue reading
Last time I talked about some of the responsibilities the members of a critique group or writers’ workshop had to the writer whose work they were critiquing. This time, I’d like to address the responsibilities of the writer, which go … Continue reading
There are two parties involved in critique: the critiquer and the critiquee. Okay, I just made those words up. So, let’s say there is the giver of the critique and the recipient of the critique. This is true whether the parties are … Continue reading
At a recent science fiction convention, I was on a panel about critique groups. We started by sharing horror stories. I had the singular honor of having the most horrific in the room. I once mentored a group of writers … Continue reading
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
