Free online Dictionary of English Pronunciation - How to Pronounce English words
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Allen Guthrie's Infamous Writing Tips
Allen Guthrie, an acquisition editor for Point Blank Press, wrote up a 'white paper' three years ago called 'Hunting Down the Pleonasms' that has become a cult classic. Guthrie gave Adventure Books of Seattle permission to reprint this document wherever we liked. It is a permanent download over at our main site, but I wanted to reproduce it here. 'Hunting Down the Pleonasms' I can’t stress strongly enough that writing is subjective. 1: Avoid pleonasms. 2: Use oblique dialogue. 3: Use strong verbs in preference to adverbs. 4: Cut adjectives where possible. 5: Pairs of adjectives are exponentially worse than single adjectives. 6: Keep speeches short. 7: If you find you’ve said the same thing more than once, choose the best and cut the rest. 8: Show, don’t tell. 9: Describe the environment in ways that are pertinent to the story. 10: Don’t be cute. 11: Avoid sounding ‘writerly’. 12: Fix your Point Of View (POV). 13: Don’t confuse the reader. 14: Use ‘said’ to carry dialogue.
101 of the Best Fiction Writing Tips, Part I
What if someone went through the biggest and best blogs on the internet, and pulled out the very best-of-the best tips for fiction writers? That’s what I’ve attempted to do here. I can’t guarantee there aren’t some amazingly helpful writing tips that I haven’t included, but this is a good start. I’ve also tried to steer clear of really obvious tips like “show, don’t tell” or “make your characters unforgettable,” in favour of ones that are less often discussed. To learn more about the tips, click through to their original articles. Thanks to all these amazing bloggers for their valuable advice! Now, head over to:
PhysicsCentral: Learn How Your World Works
Calendar patterns
some of my evaluative patterns The first 28 added 2008.0127 Similarly, comics should have good art . And it probably comes as no surprise that I think films should be beautiful to look at . But let's move beyond the surface. Non-fiction also tends to fall into the trap of failing to communicate with the reader. And just as non-fiction writers often need to unpack things for the reader, narrative writers must resist the temptation to summarize. Writers of narrative have much more structural freedom than their colleagues in the non-fiction world. However, twists only work if you have some investment in the story being twisted . One trick I see less often is the creation of a false ceiling. Related to the idea of the false ceiling is a phenomenon I have termed "redemption of the ludicrous." A mild form of the story-X-story-Q phenomenon I mentioned above is genre blending. All of those works can be classed as science fiction. Of course, most SF doesn't even aim to be literature.
7 Habits of Serious Writers
Image credit: aless&ro With thanks to Michael Pollock for the article suggestion and title. I’ve been writing, on and off, since my early teens – but it’s only in the last three years that I’ve really taken my writing seriously. It’s made a dramatic difference. In the past few years, I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside all sorts of great writers, during my MA in Creative Writing, and in my freelancing. Habit #1: Writing To be a serious writer, you have to write. Yes, that’s obvious. Maybe you’re one of them. Unfortunately, you won’t get any better at writing unless you actually write. I know it’s tough. You can do it. Writing “regularly” is key here. Get Serious Write. Habit #2: Focus Maybe you’ve planned to write for two hours on a Saturday morning. Writing is hard work – and you’ll come up with all sorts of distractions to keep you from it. Serious writers, though, know how to help themselves focus. Habit #3: Reading By reading, you’ll see how other writers tackle similar problems.
Online Book Reviews | Book Previews | TheReadingRoom.com
Preview Books to Read Online Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, New York Times bestselling authors...more Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, New York Times bestselling authors of The Heist, return in this...more Browse our featured selection of free sample chapters.
Why I Write
Gangrel, [No. 4, Summer] 1946 George Orwell’s “National Union of Journalists” press card (1943) From a very early age, perhaps the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer. Between the ages of about seventeen and twenty-four I tried to abandon this idea, but I did so with the consciousness that I was outraging my true nature and that sooner or later I should have to settle down and write books. I was the middle child of three, but there was a gap of five years on either side, and I barely saw my father before I was eight. However, throughout this time I did in a sense engage in literary activities. When I was about sixteen I suddenly discovered the joy of mere words, i.e. the sounds and associations of words. So hee with difficulty and labour hard Moved on: with difficulty and labour hee. which do not now seem to me so very wonderful, sent shivers down my backbone; and the spelling ‘hee’ for ‘he’ was an added pleasure. (i) Sheer egoism. (iii) Historical impulse.
10 Laws of Productivity
You might think that creatives as diverse as Internet entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, industrial design firm Studio 7.5, and bestselling Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami would have little in common. In fact, the tenets that guide how they – and exceptionally productive creatives across the board – make ideas happen are incredibly similar. Here are 10 laws of productivity we’ve consistently observed among serial idea executors: 1. Break the seal of hesitation. A bias toward action is the most common trait we’ve found across the hundreds of creative professionals and entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed. 2. When our ideas are still in our head, we tend to think big, blue sky concepts. 3. Trial and error is an essential part of any creative’s life. To avoid ‘blue sky paralysis,’ pare your idea down to a small, immediately executable concept. 4. When working on in-depth projects, we generate lots of new ideas along the way. 5. 6. 7. 8. Few activities are more of a productivity drain than meetings. 9.
