NovelMasterClass

"Now that I have a setting, I need some characters. Novels need a protagonist, a fully fleshed-out hero, and they need supporting characters, unless it’s a solo journey, which isn’t what my story is about. My story is about a family in Apalachicola, Florida, the Florida Panhandle. I think that’s part of the “Redneck Riviera,” which is the nickname for the Emerald Coast. I’ll look that up later—right now my focus is on just getting it all down . . ." https://lnkd.in/g3AE6XDc #authorsoffacebook #writingtips #writingfiction #writingtipsandtricks #novelist #amwriting #amwritingfiction

"A lot of us got arrested, mostly for disorderly conduct, though a few of us did a little more time than an overnight stint if we (not me) were caught stealing something over a certain monetary amount (felony theft), caught with a certain amount of drugs (intent to distribute), or hurt someone a little too much (again, not me—I always said I’d hurt you, but I wouldn’t kill you; I liked my freedom too much. My two lines were always “I don’t start fights—I finish them,” and “the world is too small a place for me—there’s no way I’m going to prison”). https://lnkd.in/gBFakCmU #writersofinsta #writersoflinkedin #amwriting #books

"There’s just something about holiday novels that allows writers to up the drama, to teach lessons (or not), to bring together a cast of characters who are bound to crash into each other like cars sliding along the BQE in January." https://lnkd.in/g6PDbQyV #writing #writersoflinkedin #amwriting #thanksgiving

"You want your name in print, and you’ll do anything to get there, not just for that one published work but to get yourself going, to build your confidence, to start your writing career. But what are you going to write? How are you going to get started, write that beginning, middle and end, get it read by other writers, polish it, polish it some more, and then get it into the hands of someone who’ll send you that life-changing email or snail mail letter welcoming you to the club? It’s easy. And it’s not. But it isn’t impossible." https://lnkd.in/gi_sgWvR #getpublished #publishing #publishers #writing #writingfiction #publishingworld

It's a 5 minute read. Check it out. "While fiction cannot (and does not) always enlighten or change opinion or educate or motivate one to get involved, to attempt change, to right a wrong, to help expose to the world the bad things going on, the sometimes that it does is often good enough . . ." https://lnkd.in/gC29dgnm #authorsoflinkedin #authorsofinsta #amwritingfiction #politics #freedom #firstamendment

Happy Veterans Day. And thank you to all who've served and are currently serving. I wrote a short story that was published in Bull Men's Fiction years ago about a veteran and thought I'd share it today. Here's an excerpt: "Their mother hadn’t wanted to go to the hospital, and no one made her. She had gone in a number of times, bad outcomes all. Before Christmas she’d coughed up some and, embarrassed, spent a few days in her bedroom getting well. Her room was on the second floor, at the end of a long hallway with creaky planks that shined here and there from sunlight streaking through the windows. “How’s she doing?” Ray asked. Ray was home from Iraq." https://lnkd.in/gjSnj5zJ #happyveteransday #shortstory

"Gardner, in The Art of Fiction, goes on to state that a “way of undermining fiction’s harmful effects is the writing of metafiction: a story that calls attention to its methods and shows the reader what is happening to him as he reads; [and] deconstructs by directly calling attention to fiction’s tricks . . .” But I'm not so sure that's necessary. Or is it? https://lnkd.in/g8UwyyBG #amwriting #amwritingscifi #amwritingfiction #authorsofinsta

"Today I want to talk about fiction that lasts, in particular fiction that makes, or attempts to make a political statement—whether about governments and types of political systems (Democracies, Authoritarianism, Monarchies, Totalitarianisms, Communism, hybrids etc.), social politics (racism, abortion, LGBT issues, guns, euthanasia, etc.), and other political subject matter deemed and understood to be “political.” As German novelist and social critic Thomas Mann said, “Everything is politics.”" https://lnkd.in/gpnxgW3G #novels #writing #writingtips Writing/Editing ASSOCIATION OF WRITERS & WRITING PROGRAMS #fiction

I have three works of fiction I'll be reviewing over the next couple months. While I don't often write reviews, if you're a writer, you may want to give it a go. Writing book reviews forces you to not only read like a writer, it opens your eyes to what other writers have done well (and where they might need a little improvement). Here's an excerpt from the post: "On the second read, we’re reading as writers. We’re asking ourselves questions non-writers don’t necessarily ask themselves as they turn the pages . . . you're approaching the work with different eyes and with a different purpose" https://lnkd.in/gmu7-GUm #writingbooks AWP Writer #workingwriters #amwritingya #writingtips

As writers, we're hit with exuberant inspiration, crippling self-doubt, jealousy, a lack of self-awareness, and countless other issues that affect our writing. Here are five "mistakes" even the experienced writers out there fall prey to. https://lnkd.in/gXnEq7jh #authorsoffacebook #authorsofig #writersofig #writingprofessionals