Columns

Ten Lighter-Raising, Horn-Throwing, Can't-Miss Rock Biographies

March 23rd, 2012

Any rock bio worth the trees it felled rests on three unshakeable pillars: 1) an interesting subject; 2) comprehensive research; and 3) compelling storytelling. A book can be powered by oceanic amounts of analysis, but if the prose is dry and lifeless, it is not worth the plastic bag that carries it home. Likewise, a fast-moving story full of innuendo and hearsay is maddeningly unsatisfying. The best ones expertly weave all three, avoiding overt partisanship while selecting stories that deliver both insight into the artist and tension into the story.

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Writing Powerful Descriptions

March 22nd, 2012

Writing is an account of how people think. As a medium it's intrinsically empathic; it communicates patently human sensibilities. In order for a story to work, it needs to feel like real life, even when it’s actually something quite different. The more detailed and rich your descriptions, the better your writing will approximate the human experience, thereby establishing a connection with fellow minds.

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Post-Mortem: "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner

March 22nd, 2012

Post-Mortem: As much a book review as an autopsy is a eulogy. A breakdown of the mechanics of a book and the reasons why it should be read by the writers among us. It takes a while to love The Sound and the Fury. The book is tough. The writing is beautiful, the characters interesting, all these things are true.

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My Kindle Experiment: How Easy Is Amazon's Self-Publishing Platform?

March 21st, 2012

When the story of the 26-year-old romance writer from Minnesota who became a millionaire by self-publishing on Kindle hit the Internet, suddenly everyone was considering using the platform to upload their torrid boddice-rippers and young adult novels sure to be the next Hunger Games.

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Short Shorts: Extremely brief prose forms plus LitReactor’s first Short Shorts Contest!

March 21st, 2012

Image via: Taylor Made Designs You could probably use an extra lifetime just to read all those wonderful and interesting words out there:

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10 Science Fiction Books That I Love (And You Will At Least Like A Lot)

March 20th, 2012

As the new ‘Sci-Fi guy’ here at LitReactor, it only seems proper to formally introduce myself. I really enjoyed writing my first piece contrasting John Carter as a book and a film, but thought a more expansive entrée might be fun. And rather than the standard recitation of resume and influences, why not throw myself upon the mercy of the comment section and offer a list of my favorite books in the genre?

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Top 10 Ways To Make 'The Walking Dead' Less Stupid, Revisited

March 19th, 2012

This is going to include SPOILERS for the comic and the show. Tread carefully.  Back in November, when The Walking Dead finished off the first half of its second season, I wrote The Top 10 Ways To Make 'The Walking Dead' Less Stupid. It was my attempt to address the ways in which the show was completely screwing the promise of its concept. 

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Ask The Lit Coach: "How Does The New Trend In Self-Publishing Affect Literary Agents?" and More

March 19th, 2012

Will U.S. agents consider work from writers abroad? And what is the fate of the literary agent now that the self e-publishing revolution is full throttle? Let's get into it, shall we?

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Slaying Dragons: Fantasy and Video Games

March 16th, 2012

I have a confession to make. Lately, I’ve been killing dragons. A lot of them.

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Book Brawl: Sense And Sensibility vs. Pride And Prejudice

March 16th, 2012

Every month I throw two books, somehow related, into the Book Brawl ring to fight it out for the coveted title of literary champion. Two books enter. One book leaves. Today, our contenders are Jane Austen staples Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Pride and Prejudice (1813). Let’s watch these two comedies of manners get impolite, shall we?

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