Columns

In Defense of (and Against) 'Write What You Know'

August 24th, 2015

It's perhaps the most well-known piece of writing advice out there. "Write what you know." We're not really sure where it came from—Hemingway, Twain, or some other quotable dead guy? Whatever the origin, it is rather reviled among many writers, mainly because it oversimplifies the craft and ostensibly devalues the imagination. But while I understand where this ire comes from, I think this advice can be valuable to any writer, because largely "write what you know" is misunderstood, and it needs clarification. So let's do just that.

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A Reading List for Self-Guided Study of Ancient Literature

August 21st, 2015

So you want to learn about ancient literature* but no class on the subject is being conveniently offered for you? Well, I can help! I had the chance to study in ancient literature in a few different courses, and I decided to compile a list of the reads I found most interesting. To spice it up a bit, I'll pair a few of these an *For clarity, "ancient" in this case spans from the beginning of literature to about 600 C.E., thanks to the arbitrary divisions we've made in categorizing literature.

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7 Reasons Why A Mailing List Is More Important Than Social Media

August 21st, 2015

We see no shortage of people talking about the benefits of social media to authors and publishers. Rightfully so, when used effectively a couple of well-targeted social media accounts can serve as excellent resources in your promotional toolkit. Furthermore, it’s a great way to network with other professionals and to even – shock, horror – make friends. The humble mailing list is often lost in the noise of social media when the conversation turns to promotion. Unfortunate given the mailing list is the better promotional tool. Here’s why.

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25 Book Marketing Ideas for the Desperate and Shameless: Field Test

August 20th, 2015

I have a few books up in the Kindle store. Like a lot of writers, I assume. And like a lot of writers, mine cover topics such as pre-adolescent boy ninjas and masturbating in a tiny house. I make a lot of assumptions. They are often false.  At the risk of force-feeding the snake its own tale, if you will, I read a column here at LitReactor called "25 Book Marketing Ideas for the Desperate and Shameless" by Max Booth III.

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5 Public Domain Works of Classic Horror You Can Read For Free

August 20th, 2015

Growing up in Greece in the early 90s, horror fiction was in limited supply. It took ages for books to get translated (if they ever did) and it was always the best sellers: S. King, D. Koontz, Clive Barker and so on. I read faster than they were publishing. So I taught myself English the brute force way; by reading English horror paperbacks way above my reading level (Graham Joyce's The Tooth Fairy at age twelve did some things to my psyche).

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6 Women Who Changed the Face of Publishing

August 19th, 2015

Photo by Jill Krementz You might have read this article recently from the author Catherine Nicols who discovered that interest in her queries to agents increased eight fold when she pretended to be a man instead of a woman.

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The Butler Did It: Why We Always Blame the Servants

August 19th, 2015

When someone insinuates that “the butler did it” in a crime fiction novel, it’s a way of pointing out the most obvious suspect. But why is that? Upon further analysis, the guilty butler trope appears to damn servants by their employment status alone. After all, they know everything about the victim’s daily routine, and they’re always suspiciously nearby.

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The Age of the Unoriginal Idea

August 18th, 2015

It happens to the best of us: we spend painstaking hours typing away at a keyboard, finishing a first draft drenched in our blood, sweat, and tears; then, with trembling hands, we pass the story onto the first of our beta readers. All is going well—they gasp at all the right moments, laugh accordingly, cry when necessary—until they pause halfway down a page, look you dead in the eyes, and say those dreaded words: “This reminds me a lot of [INSERT RANDOM BESTSELLER HERE].”

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5 Strategies for Enriching Your Character Arcs

August 14th, 2015

What drives a story? It would be pleasant if a single right answer existed, but I fear the truth is complicated. A story can be driven forward by many things—by characters or ideas, by plot or language. While some of us may prefer a given central aspect (I myself prefer character-driven stories), there's no doubt that many options can be used.

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An Ode to Middle Grade Authors

August 14th, 2015

“What’s Middle Grade?” My friend’s question makes me grimace. It’s all I can do not to shout at her across the café table. I bite my tongue and think of all the times I’ve been asked that question—even by those in the writing game. Middle Grade is so often overlooked or lumped into other categories, like Early Reader or Young Adult. “Ages eight through twelve,” I reply, but it’s not what I really want to say.

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