Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 14

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 ...

Life's Too Short For Bad Behavior by Eric Beetner

 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?

Boy do I wish this was a hypothetical thought experiment and not a real-life scenario.

The question of how to separate the art from the artists is a long-standing one. In recent years a small handful of writers I've known casually, and been friendly with over the years, have be...

The Seat Not Taken

 

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

Trigger warning: This question wasn’t easy for me, and myanswer may upset some people.

It depends.

 

I’m not talking about Issei Sagawa, who was a pervert, acannibal, and an author who profited from murders. That’s clear-cut. But onceyou move awa...

NO PERVS ALLOWED!

 

 

 

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, this is the easiest question in the world forme to answer. No! I’m tired of disgusting perverts on all levels. Just tired.With all the truly incredible writers in the writing community I wouldn’t wasteone second on a writer who is revealed to be disgusti...

Three questions for today - and such good ones too.What’s...

Three questions for today - and such good ones too.

What’s thebest question you’ve ever been asked as a writer? 

There are two, and both are asked quite frequently 

The first is this - what was your inspiration for Kaveri (the main character in my 1920s colonial Bangalore historical mystery series, The Bangalore Detectives Club)? 

I love this question because it lets me jump into one of my favorite places - Bangalore of the 1920s. Starting with the story of how Kaveri parachuted into my head one fa...

I Hate that Question! from James W. Ziskin

What’s the best question you’ve ever been asked as a writer? What's the worst? And what question do you wish you were asked but nobody’s ever asked it? 
This week’s question is a difficult one. As Dietrich pointed out in yesterday’s post, writers get plenty of questions on the craft of writing. Things such as where do we get ideas, how do you approach your research, or are you a plotter or a pantser? And while these questions may prompt interesting answers, they’re not in and of themselves partic...

Worlds Behind the Words

What’s the best question you’ve ever been asked as a writer? What's the worst? And what question do you wish you were asked but nobody’s ever asked it?

by Dietrich

Like any writer, I get asked about craft, inspiration, and the dark corners of my imagination. Some answers are almost automatic, while others leave me digging deeper. 

I think the best question I’ve been asked was “How do you find the humanity in a monster?” This was at Word on the Street in Toronto a few years ago, and the person in th...

Who's Got a Question?

 

Terry here, with our question this week: What’s the best question you’ve ever been asked as a writer? What's the worst? And what question do you wish you were asked but nobody’s ever asked it? 
 I’m going to start with the worst for a particular reason. At my first, ever, bookstore launch, which had a very healthy 35 attendees, a man asked me, “Why do you write mysteries? Do you think aren’t good enough to write literary fiction?” 
 When I tell people this, they gasp at his rudeness and audacit...