Columns

Ask The Lit Coach: "How Do You Find The Time To Write What You Love If You're So Busy?" and More

December 5th, 2011

Two of the questions I get most often have to do with time management and whether or not short story collections are a worthwhile pursuit. I address both issues in this week's Q&A. Thanks to Michael W. and Dakota T. for submitting their questions. Question from Michael W. from San Diego, CA How do you find the time to write what you love if you're so busy that you never have any free time?

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Storyville: The Journey of "Rudy Jenkins Buries His Fears"

December 5th, 2011

You’ve found your voice, you’ve written a few queries, so now what? What happens next? What kind of expectations should you have? What I’d like to do is walk you through one of my stories, the process of writing, editing, and submitting it. This should give you an idea of what you may have to go through in order to get a story published. Or, you could get lucky, and maybe the first market you send it to will snatch your brilliance right up. But that’s not how it usually happens.

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The Top 10 Best Opening Lines Of Novels

December 2nd, 2011

Original header image via Karolina Grabowska First and foremost, get their attention.

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Themes of Pedophilia in the Works of Piers Anthony

December 2nd, 2011

When I was but a lad, I used to love me some Piers Anthony. The delicious puns of the Xanth series, the themes of science versus religion in The Apprentice Adept, the humorous take on humanity that was The Incarnations of Immortality—it was pure nerd heaven. I would eventually go on to outgrow his work, but not before I had devoured everything the man had written at the time. This included his lesser known efforts, not all of which were as kid-friendly as the Xanth novels. Which is how I came to read Firefly.

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“I tell the truth, even when I lie.”: A Discussion of Unreliable Narrators

December 1st, 2011

Original image by lil artsy via pexels Can your narrator be trusted?? Reliable narrators are the norm, but unreliable narrators are great to read and fun to write. We briefly discussed unreliable narrators in Sixth Sense Settings, but I thought I might expand on the topic.

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Nook, Kindle, or Kobo? Your eReader Holiday Shopping Guide

December 1st, 2011

Whether you're engaged in a high-dollar White Elephant exchange, or you're looking for the perfect can't-believe-you-got-me-this-and-wrapped-it-in-a-red-bow kind of present, a shiny new eReader might be just the gift you're hunting for. But a little comparison shopping can go a long way--not all reading devices are created equal, and you'll want to double check the pros and cons of each one before you go dropping the requisite dollars.

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

November 30th, 2011

Every week I watch The Walking Dead and I hope it turns into a good television show. Sadly, it does not.

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Happy 400th, King James Bible! (and why you should care as a writer)

November 29th, 2011

We owe it so much that it's easier to just take it for granted, but this year, the King James Version of the Bible turns 400. That's four centuries of borrowed expressions and turns of phrase. Four centuries of influence imposed on our language by the books of Genesis, Revelation, and everything in between.

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How to Handle the Bad Review

November 28th, 2011

Image via Pexels Publishing your first novel means a few things: you've officially arrived on the literary scene, your work now yields monetary compensation. It also means you're at the mercy of the public and their scrutiny, and some people just can't handle it.  Here at LitReactor we have many aspiring authors, and in our day-to-day operations we're mostly trying to get them to a point of publication via our writers' workshop and intensives.

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The Kindle Fire and the Betamax Problem: Confessions of an Early Adopter

November 28th, 2011

Indulge me, if you would, in the telling of an everyday anecdote. Last week I tried to buy some replacement brush heads for my electric toothbrush. I don’t know if you’ve ever used one, but they make it a lot easier to do a good job of scrubbing up your dental hardware. Alas, the heads wear out, just like a regular toothbrush, so you have to buy replacements. Much as with certain brands of unfeasibly over-bladed razors, a set of three new brush heads can cost you almost as much as the toothbrush did...

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