DeAnna Knippling's Blog, page 26
July 31, 2019
For Writers: The Grain of Salt
So if, as a writer, you’re supposed to take feedback from readers, critique groups, reviewers, etc., with a grain of salt, what is that grain of salt? My thought is this: “Would the suggested change help satisfy my readers?” I think that’s it. Next time you get a comment you’re on the fence about, ask the […]
July 24, 2019
New Release: Silver Linings, an Uncollected Anthology Issue!
Uncollected Anthology: Silver Linings Universal Book Link | Goodreads (reviews) Discover how to negotiate with demons and survive a night on the street. Sniff out a pesky ghost or hunt down a creature at night. Attend a fairy ball, overcome inner darkness or speak with the wind. 7 stories about the one thing in the dark that pulls […]
July 3, 2019
Have all the stories already been told?
In other words, how important is originality in fiction? Should you be trying to write something original? First: what makes you think you would recognize originality if you saw it? When I was reading slush for several online magazines, I would run across the same idea over and over again, written by people who clearly […]
June 26, 2019
Which is more important, a good idea or good craft?
A question came up on Twitter that I’d like to address: Is it more important to have good ideas or good craft as a writer? A professional writer had told the questioner that good ideas were more important than good craft; that agents and editors needed something unique to sell and they could edit it […]
June 19, 2019
Short Stories for Novel Writers, and Vice Versa
If you are a short story writer, then it is likely that you struggle with writing novels; if you are a novel writer, then it is likely that you struggle with writing short stories. And yet people do write short stories, and they do write novels, so it must not be impossible. Just…difficult to translate. NOVEL WRITERS […]
June 5, 2019
The New Thing
Once upon a time, a person had an ambition to do something new. This new thing, it didn’t seem like a big deal. “Aha!” said the person. “I’ll just tuck that into the corners of what I’m already doing. It will be fine.” But it was not fine. The new thing kept getting pushed back […]
May 31, 2019
New Release: Alice’s Adventures in Underland: The Knight of Shattered Dreams
Release day!!! Universal Link | Goodreads (reviews) One thing was certain, that the zombies had everything to do with it… Almost nine years have passed since that golden afternoon when gentleman zombie Charles Dodgson told Alice Liddell and her two sisters the story of Alice’s Adventures in Underland, the story of how Alice goes to […]
May 26, 2019
Fantasy Indie Book Giveaway
Available through June 10 here. Includes my book, Alice’s Adventures in Underland: The Queen of Stilled Hearts. (Book 2, The Knight of Shattered Dreams, will be released May 31!) “Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice; “I’ve become one of the undead!” A horrible plague has spread across Britain, infecting some of its citizens with zombieism. The British, however, have […]
May 16, 2019
Upcoming Release: The Knight of Shattered Dreams
Coming May 31… One thing was certain, that the zombies had everything to do with it… Almost nine years have passed since that golden afternoon when gentleman zombie Charles Dodgson told Alice Liddell and her two sisters the story of Alice’s Adventures in Underland, the story of how Alice goes to the land of […]
May 8, 2019
How to Study Fiction, Part 25: The Fall of the House of Usher
This is part of a series on how to study fiction, mainly directed at writers who have read all the beginning writing books and are like, “What now?!?” The rest of the series is here. You may also want to check out the series on pacing, here, which I’m eventually going to fold into this series when […]
