Columns

Instead of Joining a Book Club This Year, Subscribe To a Literary Podcast

January 14th, 2019

It’s the first month of 2019, so what are your New Year’s Resolutions? Join a reading club? Haven't you already been there, done that?   Join a gym? Good luck.

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Storyville: Method Writing

January 10th, 2019

So you’ve probably heard of method acting. You know, an actor studies up for a role by remaining in character—prior to the film, while shooting, at night, off set, for a long period of time. Basically going to extremes through study and action to become that person.

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10 Novels Featuring Edgar Allan Poe As A Character

January 9th, 2019

In life, Edgar Allan Poe enjoyed little success with his writings and suffered a piteous (albeit strange) drunkard's demise. In death, however, Poe's groundbreaking horror and thriller narratives are celebrated as among the finest not only of his genre, but of all of literature (he's even credited with inventing the detective story). As famous now as some of his and other writers' iconic creations, Poe's gloomy visage graces T shirts, mugs, bookmarks, journals, and various other products.

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Give Me Fewer Resolutions and More Hustle

January 8th, 2019

It's 8:47 p.m. when I sit down to write this. You want me to be honest with you? I don't want to sit down and write this. I had a long day. I woke up at 4:00 a.m., went to the gym, read a few pages, showered, got dressed, had breakfast, and drove to work a bit earlier than usual because I have cafeteria duty on Monday mornings. Then I taught all day and graded 200 tests. I went to the grocery story after work. The place was packed. I came home, ate, replied to some emails, and took care of my daily house responsibilities.

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The 'Narrow Your Horizons' Reading Challenge

January 7th, 2019

It’s January, so there’s a decent chance you’re reading this in the gym. Because this is THE NEW YOU, and the new you reads articles on an elliptical machine, perhaps while a kale smoothie sloshes around in your stomach. It’s crowded in that gym because most of us take up some kind of ambitious New Year’s Resolution, but for 80% of us that ambition runs dry by the second week in February.  

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Dialogue: The Number One Mistake Newbie Writers Make

January 3rd, 2019

Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash There are many online articles on how to write dialogue in fiction. Some cover the basics—for example, when you switch speakers, make sure you start a new paragraph—while others dig into the more advanced elements of dialogue, like conflict and subtext. Which is all well and good. But there’s one issue I see over and over again in the dialogue of newbie writers, and I have yet to find a single bit of online advice that tackles it.

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How to Set Writing Goals for 2019 — the Right Way

January 2nd, 2019

It’s December 31st and the clock is about to strike midnight. Yep, raise your hand if you’re thinking what I’m thinking. Once it’s January 1st, you’ll have to actually make New Year’s resolutions — and if you’re a writer, this will probably involve writing a book. So if you’ve made writing a goal in the past and failed every time, you might want to try approaching it differently this year. More specifically, try setting your writing goals the S.M.A.R.T. way:

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Exploring the Literary References of Silent Hill

January 1st, 2019

Last month I wrote about the real town behind Silent Hill. This month we focus on the literary references, and believe me, the town and game are full of them. I knew going in there were a number of film, literary, and pop culture nods, but only in diving deeper down the rabbit hole have I discovered just how many.

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Book vs. Film: "Bird Box"

December 28th, 2018

Josh Malerman's novel Bird Box sent nearly instant ripples through the literary community upon its publication in 2014, with fans and critics alike touting it as one of the finest horror books of the 21st century.

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7 Ways to Turn Your Writing Resolutions into Realities

December 27th, 2018

Lamp image via Free Images I became an ATI certified personal trainer and thought everything I knew about diet and exercise was going to help me get people to achieve their goals. I was wrong. I ran my own personal training studio for almost three years, and what I learned during that time is every fitness goal depends on a person's mentality. Without the mental aspect under control, your diet and exercise plans will probably fail. The same goes for writing.

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