In FAITH FOX (1996), British author Jane Gardam writes from the point of view of at least 17 characters, just about every character in the book except that of Faith Fox, a homeless newborn whose mother has died in childbirth. Faith is at the center of the stormy lives of her family and extended family, […]
We indulged in some vacation reading last week, notably we read MR. PEANUT by Adam Ross. We bought this much hyped book in hardcover, thus bucking the three-month trend at Amazon that has e books outselling hardcover volumes. But this hardcover novel, MR PEANUT, and that e-book trend have something in common, we think. They […]
Probably the most common and powerful obstacle to writing is procrastination. There is something strangely and universally intimidating about that blank page that makes us feel the need to do everything else on our to-do list and more before tackling those first few sentences. My roommate, another English major, has a list of about seven […]
Molly McKitterick is on vacation this week, and handed the reins of her blog over to me, the Word Process Intern, for the time being. Earlier this month, Molly addressed the social networking website Facebook to illustrate the importance of building suspense and leaving things out as a way to make the reader want more. […]
When the explosion happens or the rainbow appears, the writer has to observe it. Then he or she must gather up the tools to write with, reflect on what has been seen, think about how it is to be recorded and finally, muster the words to describe it. This description of the writing process is […]
In a recent blog we advocated the use of the thesaurus for writers who employ the same words repeatedly. Today, we want to caution against using it in a pretentious manner. The thesaurus is great to provide variety but when you start using it to find big, obscure words, get hold of yourself, brew some […]
We want to start this entry with a disclaimer: we are not advocating that anyone use Facebook to learn about writing. What people post on Facebook are blurbs and anyone interested in writing almost any kind of narrative has a long way to go after the headline. But there is this – you might say […]
Spanish Jesuit and author, Baltasar Gracian once said that “a synonym is a word you use when you can’t spell the other one.” Obviously, he was writing before spell check. Way before, as it turns out, since his greatest work, CRITICON, was published in three parts in the 1650’s. Wikipedia describes it as “a lengthy […]
A recent query from an author was full of plans for a how-to book that is partially written. Among other ideas, the author said that several autobiographical chapters were in the works. These would take the reader through the author’s background and show just why the author is entitled to the expertise claimed in the […]