Bryan Thomas Schmidt's Blog, page 43

ChamBana Con Schedule Nov 25-27, 2011

Well, I had to wait until I arrived but here's my schedule for this weekend at ChamBana Con in Urbana. Have already run into old friends here which is a surprise but a cool one. Looking forward to making new ones. Guest of Honor: Geoffrey A. Landis and his wife Mary Turzillo. Also here Glen  [ Read More ]

2011- Reasons To Be Thankful

I'm struggling to be thankful this year. I really have to admit it. Okay, let me get through the hard stuff first because it makes the happy ending all the more powerful, and yes, please read it all. I promise there's a happy ending. (If you know my writing, you know I prefer happy endings).  [ Read More ]

Reality Check: Thoughts On American Education

True story. In college, I said "I'm never going to use Algebra and Calculus and you all know it. Give me a math class I can use." They shook their heads, smiled at me like I was daft, and put me in basic math. We learned how to balance checkbooks, calculate interest, budget, etc. Best  [ Read More ]

Excerpt: Chapter One – The Relic Of Aken–My Sword & Sorcery WIP

Ordinarily I wouldn't share something so early on but since this is a teaching blog, I thought it might be interesting to post an early chapter of this work in progress, a sword and sorcery book, and then perhaps look at it later when it's published or at least further along. So for what it's  [ Read More ]

Write Tip: The Dichotomy Of Writing Life-Dealing With Criticism

Two of the most valuable skills one must cultivate as a writer are being hypersensitive to write passionate, powerful, emotion-filled prose, and having a thick skin to handle criticism. Ironically, these two skills are often diametrically opposed. How can you be thick skinned and sensitive at the same time? In truth, I don't know anyone  [ Read More ]

Losing Our Sense of Common Humanity: The Difference Between Acceptance & Agreement

I continue to be amazed these days by the inability of people to separate acceptance from agreement.   ac·cept·ance  [ak-sep-tuhns]  Show IPA noun 1. the act of taking or receiving something offered. 2. favorable reception; a·gree·ment  [uh-gree-muhnt]  Show IPA noun 1. the act of agreeing or of coming to a mutual arrangement. 2. the state of being in accord.   While acceptance is sometimes equated with agreement, such is not implicit in it. And in a world of diverging cultures  [ Read More ]

10 Tips For Writing Dialogue Better

Writing dialogue can be a challenge for some writers more than others, but it's an extremely important part of good fiction. There are many tools and techniques one can use, the most important being to use your powers of observation. By listening to dialogue of the real people around you, you can learn how people  [ Read More ]

10 Tips For Writing Better Dialog

Writing dialogue can be a challenge for some writers more than others, but it's an extremely important part of good fiction. There are many tools and techniques one can use, the most important being to use your powers of observation. By listening to dialogue of the real people around you, you can learn how people  [ Read More ]

Press Release: Ray Gun Revival Serializes The Worker Prince

I am pleased to announce an agreement with Ray Gun Revival magazine to serialize my debut novel, The Worker Prince, starting later this month. Installments should run biweekly, a chapter at a time, carrying the novel over the next six months into 2012. The final chapter will post near the time my second novel, The  [ Read More ]

The Hazards Of Online-Speak & The Loss Of Grammar

I didn't even realize this problem existed until recently. At the airport in Atlanta, I spoke with a college instructor who's taught for forty years, and then I heard about it again at interviews for a job at a local university. Spelling and grammar are in serious danger. Ok, yes, this example is silly and  [ Read More ]