Columns

Seeing the Page Like A Quarterback Sees the Field

May 19th, 2017

Both my fiancé and I are writers, and I give her edits before she submits to presses and vice versa. She loves that I can help her make her stories better, but she hates that I use a ton of sports metaphors about the craft of writing.

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5 Writing Lessons You Can Learn From Pop Punk

May 15th, 2017

Just about every web site has articles about lessons learned from the punk music movement. Start Your Own Business The Punk Rock Way, Grow Herbs The Punk Rock Way, Find The Right Long Term Care Facility for Grandma The Punk Rock Way. Whatever the need, there’s almost certainly an article about how to do it based on the lessons learned from the punk rock movement. But what about punk rock’s cousin, pop punk?

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Tech and Product Round-up: May Edition

May 15th, 2017

image courtesy Dopamine Labs Hi gang, welcome once again to LitReactor's monthly tech and product round-up, where we take a look at all the new gadgets, apps, and whatever, filtered through the lens of writerly interest. This month, we're taking a look at a new Kindle (or, additionally, a new means of spiffing up your old Kindle). As usual, we've got plenty of ground to cover, so let's jump right in.

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Alright Kids, We’re Gonna Talk About Race: 5 Books that Get it Right

May 12th, 2017

“Alright kids, we’re gonna talk about gun control.” - Kendrick Lamar, “XXX.FT.U2” Yeah, I know it’s a little weird to start off a column about race with a quote about gun control. But the thing is, the two subjects have a lot in common. Mostly their commonality has to do with the fact that when it comes to race and guns in the United States, we rarely, if ever, talk about them. Okay, that’s not necessarily true.

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The Top 10 Craft Books on Storytelling

May 11th, 2017

Before I get into the list, I must admit that I once thought “craft books” were for hacks and shitty writers. I believed that ‘real writers’ didn't need them, and they just needed to write and read books. There is still some truth to this. Reading and writing a lot is the best way to build your craft, but my idea of craft books and writing being teachable changed the day I went to the Odessa Diner in the East Village for breakfast.

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How 'The Mists of Avalon' Redefined King Arthur from the Female Perspective

May 11th, 2017

King Arthur is a tale that just about everyone knows. Ask Joe Sixpack on the street and he would be able to tell you the basics: peasant boy pulls sword from the stone and becomes king with wizard Merlin by his side, eventually Arthur's most trusted knight Lancelot sleeps with his wife Guinevere, and eventually they seek the Holy Grail in an attempt to heal the fractured kingdom. From Sir Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte D’Arthur to T.H.

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Writing the Crime Scene: Mental Illness

May 10th, 2017

They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me. — Nathaniel Lee

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Storyville: Writing Compelling Dust Jacket Copy

May 9th, 2017

So, you have a book coming out, or maybe you’re editing an anthology, and now you have to write the dust jacket copy—what should it include? Here are a few thoughts on how you can make the back of your book really sing.

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Never Write for Exposure...or Should You?

May 8th, 2017

Image by Helmut Gevert If you've been doing the writing thing for more than three days, chances are someone has already told you never to give your work away for free. Whoever told you that is absolutely right. Exposure is something you die from. The day you go to the grocery store and the cashier tells you they're now accepting exposure as payment, then go ahead and expose yourself like that creep by the park rocking the trench coat. If that hasn't happened yet, make sure you get paid.

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When Bad People Write Good Things

May 8th, 2017

Ender’s Game is a good book. Let’s start right there. At the very least, it’s a crowd pleaser, and if we want to get grandiose, it’s not hard to find a reader willing to call it a foundation work in science-fiction. That said, the author is a problematic person. “Problematic” doesn’t even scrape the surface in some opinions, is overblown in others. For now, let’s go with the blanket term “bad.” Because "bad" is three letters and there's a lot to cover here.

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