Point of View in Creative Nonfiction | AndiLit.com I read a lot of novels, and poetry, and even the occasional screenplay/drama. I enjoy them; I learn from them; I find them delicate, and robust, and powerful, and skillful and all the things that make good writing. BUT when I want to really understand something, when I want to feel it in the center of my chest, when I want my cheeks to be rasped with the reality of life, I turn to creative nonfiction. There’s just something about the authenticity of the writer’s perspective there that makes me connect more fully. I’ve been trying to articulate the difference in connection I feel between fiction and nonfiction ever since my friend @karriehiggins were talking about it on Twitter the other night. We were discussing ownership in writing – as in who “owns” their perspective more? For me, creative nonfiction makes me more readily willing to identify with the narrator. What do you think? *That’s not to say writers in other genres aren’t profoundly honest and risky and vulnerable. Author: Andi
Internet Resources - Writers Resources - Writing Links & Writers Unsorted [/writers] James Patrick Kelly - Murder Your Darlings - "When time comes to make that final revision, however, you must harden your heart, sharpen the ax and murder your darlings." Greda Vaso - Determining the Readability of a Book - includes formulas for Gunning's Fog Index, Flesch Formula, Powers Sumner Kearl L. Kip Wheeler - Literary Terms and Definitions L. Kip Wheeler - Comp - Lit - Poetry - Links - more Style - Grammar - Errors in English [/writers]American Heritage - Book of English Usage - free download Band-Aid AP StylebookPaul Brians - Common Errors in EnglishCJ Cherryh - Writerisms and other Sins The Chicago Manual of Style FAQ Gary N.
Proofreading 101 - The Ultimate List of Things to Edit For - Melissa Carter Design Though proofreading is something that a lot of people don’t think a lot about, it is one of the most vital parts of publishing a blog post. Writing and content is important, but it doesn’t mean anything if your readers can’t make it through your post because of errors. A while back I wrote a post How to Proofread Your Posts Before Publishing because it’s really important to have a system in place so that proofreading every post is easy, and having a list of things to edit for will help. Having a list is a great way to stay organized and create a strategy. Cliches Cliches are the worst. Tense Though tense isn’t something many people think about, it can ruin a post if you let it. Grammar There are so many different grammar rules that you need to keep an eye out for when you are proofreading your posts. Headline Grammar You may or may not know this, but your headlines have their own grammar. Verbs Verbs are the most powerful parts of every sentence. Similar words Spelling
5 of the Best Free Writing Software and Tools for Aspiring Novelists EmailEmail Whether you’re the next Jack Karouac or the next NaNoWriMo dropout, any novelist who takes the craft seriously is going to need the right tools to write. And let’s face it: Microsoft Office can spit out a decent business letter, but the thought of launching a full-blown office suite to do some creative work is a little… depressing. Most ordinary word processors are also priced out of reach of the starving artist crowd. 1. The best thing a writer can do is write. Best of all, Notational Velocity can automatically sync in the cloud with the free Simplenote service. 2. As with any large project, the hardest thing about writing a novel is getting started. This unit of work and a break is called a œPomodoro, and every four Pomodoros calls for a longer break of about twenty-five minutes. 3. Skim was originally devised as a way for scientists in academia to read and annotate PDF’s of scientific papers. 4. Distraction is the bane of any writer’s existence. 5. Google+
50 of the Best Websites for Writers - StumbleUpon There are tons of reference sites on the web that can help you find a job or write a poem, essay or story. Here is a list of the best 50 websites for writers. Reference Websites Merriam-Webster Online - Merriam Webster is the perfect place to look up words and find information. General Writing Websites Writer's Digest - Probably one of the best all-around websites for writers, Writer's Digest offers information on writing better and getting published. Fiction Writing Websites About.com - About.com publishes a Guide to Fiction Writing with general information about fiction writing and a number of community forums for both current and aspiring writers. Nonfiction Writing Websites Bella Online - This site offers a large collection of resources for nonfiction writers. Websites for Freelance Writers and Authors Media Bistro - This site is a good place to find freelance jobs online.
What to Look For So now that it is nearly 2016 and Beyond the Red edits are coming to a close, I've entered the stage of editing that once upon a time as a newbie writer I thought was the only thing writers needed to do in terms of editing: line edits. As I have reiterated here many, many times, my baby writer self was hilariously wrong: line edits should be the last round of edits you do—not the first and only. But! I actually really enjoy line edits, especially when it's someone else's work (though I don't mind it in mine, either). So in no particular order! Filter phrases. Wordiness, Wordiness, Wordiness List absolutely essential = essential aforementioned = DELETE a bigger/greater/higher/larger degree of = more a considerable amount of = DELETE OR BE SPECIFIC a decreased number of = fewer a distance of 28 kilometers = 28 kilometers a lesser/smaller degree of = less/fewer He noticed a lesser degree of errors = He noticed fewer errors. a lot of = many, much a majority of = most, much of, many a person who is xxx = a xxx person A person who is dedicated will succeed = A dedicated person will succeed. a total of seven xxxs = seven xxxs added bonus = bonus advance notice/reservations = notice/reservations advance warning = warning advance planning = planning after all is/was said and done = DELETE After all was said and done, the trip to the well was a disaster. all across = across all of = all all of a sudden = suddenly all of these = these all-time record = record almost never = seldom along the lines of = like any and all = all are/is such that = DELETE Jack and Jill are such that they are doomed to perish.
Writing Writing Even the best writers sometime need a little stimulation, if only for practice. Otherwise, writers may face the dismal monstrosity of writer's block. These generators are here to help when you need plot ideas, genre-bending concepts, and more. Story Inspiration Envisioner Combines legends, tales, and stories with new or unexpected elements. Humor and For Amusement Action Film Trailers We've all seen those action movie trailers that begin with "In a world of . . ." and then quickly describe what goes on. Music Song Challenges Creates a style and subject matter for a song - for a challenge to when you need a quick idea for a story or game. More Resources! A Memoir Is Not a Status Update In the middle of my writing day, I sometimes take a Facebook break. I know I shouldn’t do this. I counsel my writing students not to do this. I wonder what would have become of me if I had come of age as a writer during these years of living out loud. In an essay on Emily Dickinson, the poet Adrienne Rich once wrote, “It is always what is under pressure in us, especially under pressure of concealment—that explodes in poetry.” I’m a bit of an accidental memoirist. I worry that we’re confusing the small, sorry details—the ones that we post and read every day—for the work of memoir itself.
A new tip for productivity | A Writer's Journey As a homeschooling mom, I do all my planning for the week on Sundays. I use a spreadsheet that lays out the full week, organizes by topic, and lets me see in one page what needs to be done, and even how to do it. So it occurred to me the other day- Why don’t I use the same technique for writing? Writing Planner- I created a table with 7 columns for each day of the week, and the rows are broken up on labels such as; Appointments- to list important meetings I must attend (and I add the time). Writing- This is writing specific to stories and things I will publish. Blogging- With keeping a blogging schedule, I find its faster to post and even brainstorm ideas by knowing when I need to update a new post. Marketing- This includes things I do for my web sites, blogs, and my business (learnthepc.net). Other includes specific projects I’m working on. Exercise- This was recently added to remind me that I need to exercise regularly. Feel free to use my idea, and let me know if it work out for you.
yWriter5 - Free novel writing software to help you write a book yWriter is a powerful writing program which is free to download and use. yWriter is a word processor which breaks your novel into chapters and scenes, helping you keep track of your work while leaving your mind free to create. It will not write your novel for you, suggest plot ideas or perform creative tasks of any kind. yWriter was designed by an author, not a salesman! yWriter5 is free to download and use, but you're encouraged to register your copy if you find it useful. If you're just embarking on your first novel a program like yWriter may seem like overkill. I mean, all you have to do is type everything into a word processor! (Although yWriter was designed for novels, enterprising users have created their own translation files to customise the program to work with plays, non-fiction and even sermons.) Out now! I'm Simon Haynes, the designer and programmer. As a programmer I'm used to dealing with projects broken into source files and modules, and I never lose track of my code.
Karl Ove Knausgaard: ‘Writing is a way of getting rid of shame’ It’s not difficult to spot Karl Ove Knausgaard waiting at Ystad train station. Partly, it must be said, because there’s no one else present at the open-air platform on a brilliantly cloudless February afternoon in southernmost Sweden. Yet even if there had been a large crowd, Knausgaard is the sort of man who would stand out. He’s 6ft 4in with a strikingly handsome face, a writerly beard and a thick mane of swept back silvery hair. But it’s not that he’s a commanding presence so much as a conspicuous absence. Yet that is precisely what he did in writing a six-volume, 3,600-page novel-cum-autobiography, provocatively titled My Struggle – or in Norwegian Min Kamp. Although the series is ostensibly fiction, it is also an unflinching memoir, from early childhood right up to the controversial reception of the book itself. So what is it that has led fellow authors like Zadie Smith and Jonathan Lethem to rave about Knausgaard and hail him as literary pioneer? It’s not to everyone’s taste.
Give Your Writing More “Body” This month’s book review is an overview of my favorite “dead body” books. Whether you are writing a mystery, suspense, action, or any sort of fiction, these are excellent tools for getting the details right, plus they make for terrific Halloween reading. Another way you can use these books is as a brainstorming tool. It’s amazing what paths of thinking and creativity will open for you as you turn the pages. When you research with these books (as opposed to the web) no gruesome or sensationalistic photos will take you by surprise and keep you up nights. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach Entertainment Weekly called Stiff “One of the funniest and most unusual books of the year…Gross, educational, and unexpectedly sidesplitting.” Beginning with stories from history, the author opens with tales of body snatching and instances of human dissection while anatomists tried to understand the body and its functioning. Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies?