The Trope Series will be an ongoing, multiangle look at Tropes—what they are, how you can use them, as well as highlighting some specific tropes each month. My hope is that both readers and writers can get something out of these posts. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tropes First, what is a trope? Well, a trope is a tool that […]
I recently finished Kurt Vonnegut’s writing book Pity the Reader. In it, Suzanne McConnell (a former student of Vonnegut’s) compiles various pieces of advice and tidbits from the master. I might do a more in depth review of the book (which, in short, was great), but I was struck by the section, Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe or Choice. […]
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” –Jack London I think a lot of writers start out with the image of themselves as tortured artists, slaving away at the keyboard or waiting for inspiration to strike. They write infrequently, if ever, and have more manuscripts half-finished on their […]
Like all things in life, there is both a short answer and a longer answer to the question of “Where do authors find their inspiration?” Short answer: Everywhere. Slightly longer answer: Everywhere, but you need to be open and receptive to it. The rest of the answer: Inspiration can come from anywhere but it often […]
In a previous post I talked about my feelings on what it takes to be a writer: You need to write every day. No one writes a novel in a day or a weekend or even a week. I have a few points to add to that. Running a marathon is an apt analogy for […]
I mentioned the Specificity Principle in an earlier post. Whatever you want to get better at, you need to do it and do it often. Want to get better at writing? Write. Want to get better at running? Run. And so on. Another powerful principle that goes hand in hand with that is Cross-Training. In […]
There are many analogies for writing. Construction is frequently used. Writing is akin to the walls and floors, structure and outline are akin to the foundation, figurative language akin to the furnishing. My favorite analogy for writing compares it to excavating a fossil, and is one that I read for the first time in Stephen […]
Everyone writes, but not everyone calls themselves a writer. We all wrote papers in high school and college. We write Emails and text messages and social media posts. Some of us even write for a living (copywriting, technical writing, social media). They are certainly writers, aren’t they? Let’s narrow down the question: What makes someone […]
It’s a simple enough question, really. It’s also the simple questions that philosophers like to muse about ’till the end of time. “What do I have to say?” I ask this question to the artists, the authors, the bloggers, the playwrights, poets, actors, musicians, and anyone else hoping to make a piece of art that […]
Do you want to get better at something? Then I have a term for you. Do you want to get better at writing? Awesome. Keep Reading. The Specificity Principle is a term that originated in the fitness industry. It simply states that to improve at a task, one must practice that task. If you […]
Samuel Fleming Books 