Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 10

To go or not to go? by Eric Beetner

 What do your writing expenses look like for a conference? (Percentages are fine.) Airfare, hotel, meals, books, booze? What about ROI (return on investment)? Are conferences worth the expense?

This question comes at a timely moment for me. I had planned not to attend any conferences this year. My finances have been depleted as my day job industry (TV/Film) goes through a major readjustment if not a downright upheaval. So things have been tight around here.

I've had years where I can justify going...

The LOL of ROI, by Gabriel Valjan

 

What do your writing expenses look like fora conference? (Percentages are fine.) Airfare, hotel, meals, books, booze? Whatabout ROI (return on investment)? Are conferences worth the expense?

Let’s just say Icould fly to Europe, or I could go to Bouchercon. 

 

Same price point,wildly different emotional outcomes.

 

Rough breakdown:

X% hotel (writers need sleep, allegedly)
X% travel (planes, trains, Uber, and the privilege of TSA judging your bookmarks)
X% mea...

Money Money Money...

 

What do your writingexpenses look like for a conference? Airfare, hotel, meals, books, booze. Whatabout ROI (return on investment)? Are conferences worth the expense?

 

What a question! And a question that every writerprobably has asked themselves at one point or another during their journey. I saw a post from a fairly well-establishedwriter a while ago struggling with a decision on whether to attend a major upcomingconference. They ultimately decided against because the royalties they e...

Deleting the 'is' and 'was' - possible or impossible? by Harini Nagendra

Look at your last book and count the number of times you used is, are, was, and were. Thoughts? Lessons learned? 

I must confess, the first time I saw today's question, I was very confused - what was wrong with using 'is, are, was and were'? Then I read some more. Many contemporary writing coaches and editors suggest that this entire set of words - all variants of the verb 'to be' - should be, if not deleted from one's writing vocabulary (which is clearly an impossible task), at least minimized. ...

To Be Is the Strongest Verb from James W. Ziskin

This week’s question deals with the verb “to be.” Since we mostly write in the past tense, I’ve decided to concentrate on “was” and “were,” instead of the present “am,” “is,” and “are.”

Dickens opens A TALE OF TWO CITIES with this famous passage: 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hop...

Lurking in the prose

Look at your last book and count the number of times you used is, are, was, and were. Thoughts? Lessons learned?

by Dietrich

Overusing auxiliary verbs weakens the prose, waters the action and makes the story less engaging. The question got me thinking about whether I was guilty of this, so I took a look at the opening for Dirty Little War. It’s a small part of the first chapter (just 564 words), but let’s check it for culprits.

Huck was getting a sinking feeling about the whole set-up, no place fo...

Not "To be"

 

Terry here, with our question of the week: Look at your last book and count the number of times you used is, are, was, and were. Thoughts? Lessons learned? 
 I have belonged to a particular writer’s group for thirty years. Many years ago one of the members brought the use of the word “to be” to our attention. She cautioned that those words—is, are, and were--could be stand-ins for stronger verbs: Instead of “Jim Ziskin IS coming for dinner. Mary IS going to serve soup,” say, “Jim Ziskin promised...

The Was Word

Look at your last book and count the number of times you used is, are, was, and were. Thoughts? Lessons learned?

Brenda

This question looks innocuous on the surface, but it brings up a writing no-no. Overuse of the little 'is' verb in all its tenses. It's a non-action, boring word and often overused. A writing pit we often fall into.

I'm always aware when writing not to overuse the passive voice (which uses the was word). For example: "The pie was eaten by us," is passive while, "We ate the pie" is...

The Artist's Choice by Poppy Gee

CW: reference to a paedophile

A writer whose work you admire A LOT turns out to be adisgusting pervert. Do you stop reading their work? Do you hold your nose withone hand as you turn the pages with the other? Do you refuse to be on a panelwith them?

Personally, I think it’s important for writers to stand forsomething. You should have something to say, otherwise your work risks beingboring or pointless. Every creative project needs to have a purpose – even ifit’s as simple as making people ...

Oh HAIL no, by Catriona

A writer whose work you admire A LOT turns out to be a disgusting pervert. Do you stop reading their work? Do you hold your nose with one hand as you turn the pages with the other? Do you refuse to be on a panel with them?

"Perversion" is an odd word, isn't it? I mean, there are loads of areas in life where I do think there's "one true path" to lose sight of and end up perverted. Children should be safe and warm and fed. That's an easy one. All people are created equal. Thanks, America - you ...