Chris Abouzeid's Blog, page 7

Revision for the Organizationally Challenged

By Kathy Crowley I’m writing to you from the edge of revision — or maybe a better metaphor is writing to you from the foot of Revision Mountain, looking up.  And up.  And thinking about the long climb. As a writer I struggle mightily with at least two of the ...

Outline: Structure vs. Stricture

  By Dell Smith When I started writing novels seriously, I loved writing the first draft. I just dove in and started typing away. It was fun while it lasted. But I always got stuck in the middle of a first draft with no out, no safe word I could shout ...

Friday Faves: Prizes, Bestseller Lists and 1 Star Reviews

by Juliette Fay Our favorite links this Friday are here for your edification, entertainment and possible monetary enhancement. (Wouldn’t that be nice!) The Most Highlighted Passages From Classic Books (Huffpo Blog) Earlier this year, Amazon’s Kindle team revealed which passages are highlighted most frequently across all of their ebooks. Unsurprisingly, ...

Your Lit Mag Starter Kit, Part 1: Hearty, High-Quality, Aesthetically Traditional Lit Mags

By Becky Tuch Remember when you didn’t know how to cook? When you were in your teens or twenties (or your thirties, maybe even forties) and you didn’t know the first thing about what should fill your kitchen cupboards and pantry shelves? I have a distinct memory of being twenty-two ...

Do You Know These First Lines of Famous Books? Take the Quiz

By Nichole Bernier Can you recognize these first lines from famous books? Some old, some new, some borrowed, some you blew through. Answers at the end. If you cheat, you’re only cheating yourself! And it’ll come through in your cheater-tweeter pride.   1. China’s turned on herself. If I didn’t ...

The Mystery of Names

  by Chris Abouzeid People don’t choose their own names. Their parents choose them, based on whatever criteria they hold dearest. Since parents don’t know who their children are yet (or who they might become), they have to assign a name blindly, and children, for the most part, end up ...

My Dark Night of The Soul: On the Desire to Be Published

By Leslie Greffenius “The last temptation is the greatest treason, to do the right deed for the wrong reason” T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral An ambitious friend who claims never in her life to have succumbed to writer’s block, just won a prestigious prize for her novel. This annoyed ...

Writer’s Block: Creativity as Chameleon

By Kim Triedman It’s no great surprise that I’m quilting again. Or redesigning the back garden or upcycling furniture with trash plucked from yard sales. In fact the number of DIY projects I have going at this summer’s end has reached wackadoodle proportions, and my house has the brimful, detritus-rich look ...

What You See is What You Get—Describing Fictional Characters

By Dell Smith Writers, I ask you: What do you see when you write your characters? Are they fully formed, in-the-flesh people that you conjure completely each time you sit down to write? Are they composites of people you know or have known? Are they based on pictures of strangers ...

Awkward Author Photos: A Taxonomy

by Bethanne Patrick I can’t get enough of the website Awkward Family Photos. There’s something about the lack of self awareness, the willingness to don silly garments for loved ones, the huge grins and squalling infants and painted pregnant bellies, that cheers me up every time I look at it. ...