Columns

An Exquisite Corpse: Tips for Brainstorming your National Novel Writing Month Plot

October 13th, 2011

Photo by hisks When I sit down to write, several things can happen: 1) A brilliant idea I've been holding on to with a mental death grip slips away the moment I set my fingers on the keyboard, and I’m left wondering what was so great about the idea in the first place. 2) I furiously whip out five or six ideas that I have been cooking up, but they all come out unfinished, still soft in the middle.

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Neglected Books: "On Moral Fiction", "The Mismeasure of Man" and "The Man Who Died"

October 12th, 2011

Original photo via Free Images Every month I'm going to talk about obscure books. Neglected books. Novels not enough people have read, for instance, or books that were once popular but have fallen out of critical favor. I'm not going to pretend to be objective here; the point is to get a dialogue going about books we just don't talk about anymore.

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Which P.O.V Is Right For Your Story?

October 12th, 2011

Given this is a column about writing craft, it’s inevitable that sooner or later we’re going to have to discuss point of view. At its core, P.O.V. is an issue of perspectives. The mode of narration you choose fundamentally alters how your story will be received.

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Submit Yourself: A Submissions Calendar is a Smart Idea

October 11th, 2011

Image via Free Images Whether you’re looking to make it big with a book you’re sure is a best-seller, or you’re just interested in breaking through with a few bylines in lit journals that your mother can frame and put on the 'fridge, one of the biggest hurdles is to know where to even send your work--and when.

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Ask The Lit Coach: "Is It Possible To Get An Agent Or Book Publishing Deal Based Only On A Few Short Stories?" and More

October 10th, 2011

I asked for your questions about all things publishing last week and you delivered, LitReactors! This week I'm answering two of the most frequently asked questions I received as an agent and continue to receive as a consultant. As always, I give you my best counsel, straight up. 

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The Case for eBook Self-Publication

October 7th, 2011

Header via Free Images Change is afoot in the publishing industry. Stories about self-pubbed authors making big money have been all over the papers... well, all over the websites of the papers, at least. Stephen Leather! Amanda Hocking! GP Taylor!

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Cavalcade Of Literary Jerks: Part 1

October 7th, 2011

Original Shakespeare portrait via Wikipedia Commons, public domain All author photos via Wikipedia Commons, public domain Hero worship is a dangerous proposition, especially in literature. Writers are a notoriously temperamental bunch, and few are suited to a Brad Pitt level of public scrutiny. By putting your favorite author on a pedestal, you are setting yourself up for disappointment should you ever choose to peer behind the curtain.

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Book vs. Film: Winter's Bone

October 6th, 2011

Allow me to preface my own megillah: this series is one that focuses on the best effort to tell a story. If a film adaptation is awful, I'm going to tell you. If the book is awful, I'm going to tell you. Perhaps both--reach into recent history and I'm sure you can recall both terrible novels and their ungodly film versions. Think: vampire. If the source material and the film are wildly different, I'm definitely going to tell you. But the story itself is my concern. Sound good? Let’s do this. Beyond here be spoilers.  

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Cliche, the Literary Default

October 5th, 2011

Original Photo by Gerhard Lipold As writers, we’re constantly told to avoid the cliché. MFA programs in particular indoctrinate an almost Pavlovian shock response against it; workshops introduce a wearingly familiar ritual where even the most minor characters are raked over the literary coals if they fail to achieve Hazel Motes levels of compelling. To an extent the witch-hunt is justified.

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The Top 10 DC Comics Relaunch Titles

October 4th, 2011

"What are they thinking?" It was the question posed in comic shops all around the world and a topic of much debate amongst the many message boards out there. Why would DC take all their comics, relaunch everything with brand-new number one issues, and change the history of characters - and the DC Comics universe as a whole - when there is already such a rich history? 52 new books released within the span of a month. A lot of people want to know which books are worth their money and which are better left to rot on the shelf.

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