Saturday, August 29, 2020

Change of Venue

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I'm a creature of habit and getting more so the older I am. I don't like a change to my routine and can become somewhat of a grump w...
2 comments:
Friday, August 28, 2020

Keeping Track

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Recently I read a medium length suspense novel that was overloaded with characters. I expect a long historical novel to be packed, but with ...
3 comments:
Thursday, August 27, 2020

Take a break to add tension

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This week has been a busy one. School kicks off, in a hybrid version, I published a pedagogy article , and got about 3,000 words of fiction ...
Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Writing in the Age of COVID-19

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  The posts this week from Thomas and Rick reminded me how writing has changed since COVID-19 reared its ugly head. I’ve heard from a number...
Tuesday, August 25, 2020

A potpourri of thoughts

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by Rick Blechta As usual, this week again finds my thoughts scattered and with zero focus. I’ve taken to calling it “Covid brain”, and in s...
Monday, August 24, 2020

Writing Distractions and Building Tension

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I have a confession to make.  Other than this blog, I haven’t written a word in three days. I’m easily distracted and the last few days ha...
3 comments:
Friday, August 21, 2020

What You Don't Know

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Sorry to be so very late today. Classes begin on Monday, and this morning we had orientation for incoming grad students -- virtual orientati...
2 comments:
Thursday, August 20, 2020

A Refresher Course in Suspense

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 When I (Donis) am really in the zone, in the midst of a scene, I’ve been known to leap up from the computer and begin pacing the floor, una...
2 comments:
Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Poking the beast again

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In my post two weeks ago, I described how I was "letting my manuscript rest" before beginning rewrites. That was a good excuse for...
Tuesday, August 18, 2020

A bit of flag waving

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by Rick Blechta Photo by maplerose from FreeImages The flag I’m referring to is the one with the big red maple leaf in the middle, i....
2 comments:
Sunday, August 16, 2020

Once Upon a Time.... and Now

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Once upon a time, a very long time ago now, there was a brilliant writer called Peter May who was one of the Type M team. I was thrilled whe...
5 comments:
Friday, August 14, 2020

Dog Days

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Even without Covid, there has always been something about early August. My mother called this time of year Dog Days. Eastern Kansas, where I...
4 comments:
Thursday, August 13, 2020

Summer Reading List

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It’s been quite a week! I made the 11-hour drive (each way) from western Massachusetts to Ohio to drop Audrey off at Denison University, whe...
2 comments:
Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Going Down The Punctuation Rabbit Hole

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  Exclamation marks, periods, semicolons, etc. We use them every day and don’t think anything about it. They’ve always been there for us. We...
1 comment:
Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Something for more for writers to think about

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by Rick Blechta As if the writer’s life isn’t already such a struggle given the state of the publishing industry let alone the state of...
3 comments:
Monday, August 10, 2020

A Healthy Respect for Teachers

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As some of you know, I’ve been teaching a Creative Writing Class at our community college for the last six weeks.  Tonight will be our last ...
4 comments:
Friday, August 07, 2020

Inhabiting Characters' Minds

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I realized something a couple of nights ago when I was reading before lights out. By the time I get to bed these days, I really need to esca...
2 comments:
Thursday, August 06, 2020

Depressed

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I (Donis) am feeling low today.* I'm tired and headachy and just plain tired. I've been fighting with depression a bit over the past...
8 comments:
Wednesday, August 05, 2020

Letting it rest

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Barbara here. For the last two weeks I have been on a family holiday at my cottage and have not done a lick of work on my WIP. But I have fo...
1 comment:
Tuesday, August 04, 2020

Star turns

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by Rick Blechta I couldn’t sleep the other night so I took my laptop to the living room and watched “an old friend” on YouTube. I’ve w...
3 comments: