The art of writing dialogue I have always enjoyed reading Heinlein’s books, but it is his dialogue that holds my attention the most. His characters play with words and by doing so demonstrate relationships and conditions. This excerpt from The Cat that Walks Through Walls is a great example of how his dialogue clearly separated…
All me, just different. Like most writers, I have a day job. I am a teacher. I am also a wife and mother, so adding a writing life just increases confusion to the standard complicated life of this everywoman. I have to keep them from overlapping. My teaching is about the student, not about what…
ring by ring, we build brevity, depth, complexity, simplicity Every new skill or bit of knowledge we learn brings with it that usage curve that starts out complex, and as we gain understanding and mastery, we simplify and integrate. That applies to life and work in general, but it is also the essence of growing…
Flawed yet potentially beautiful. We all face demands that require near perfection, sometimes even perfection. Those of us naturally conscientious try hard to meet them. In fact, we often demand them of ourselves, without an outside force motivating us. I am a perfectionist, so I can certainly sympathize with those who demand it of themselves…
Fame & Fortune, but at what cost? Using a tried and true narrative mode to set up a story, as mentioned in last week’s post, is quite useful. The Faust Legend is another popular format. If you are familiar with the old movie Oh God, then you have seen it used in the more modern…
The incredible disappearing QWERTY. What is the most important tool for me as a writer? That is easy: a keyboard. I mention this as I have noticed that over the years of owning various computers that the keyboard letters are fading more quickly with each new purchase as I upgrade. In essence, as I upgrade…
I have always been a believer in the idea that there are things that are specifically made to fit a situation or need, but one can always come up with a bypass if that item is just not available. This is how I manage to deal with computers that don’t want to work or when…
As promised, this post is about a mind mapping program I downloaded onto my iPhone. It is called Simplemind and is user-friendly and versatile. I wanted something like Freemind, but for my phone for when I am away from my computer but want to map out an idea for a story, lesson plan or even…
