I haven’t done a review for some time, but I haven’t been sparked to do so until now. You, by Caroline Kepnes has left me wondering. *Spoiler alert: many plot topics covered below.*
Author: Glenn
bookmark_borderExercises in Style
I started an exercise similar to Raymond Queneau’s “Exercises de Style” but much simpler, taken from John Gardner’s “The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers“. Continue reading “Exercises in Style”
bookmark_borderWriting Analysis: Cat Person
I’m not a woman and perhaps my perspective will miss the boat for many readers of this wildly popular story published in The New Yorker but my objective is to do writing analysis; there will be no “How To Reply When Asked About ‘Cat Person'” or “My True Life ‘Cat Person’ Experience”.
First, a list of elements (not events but factors that reappear, in varied guises, throughout): Continue reading “Writing Analysis: Cat Person”
bookmark_borderThe Writing Process
I thought it might be worthwhile to summarize my writing process. This is based on the two most recent stories but the process has been similar for many years. Continue reading “The Writing Process”
bookmark_borderReading Across Genres
I like to read across genres.
Some years back I discovered Google’s list of best books of 2012 and I read them without paying attention to what the title might hint, reserving judgement as long as I could. The 2013 list wasn’t as good and that was the last I saw. Since then I haven’t found a reliable way of finding material across genres worth looking at.
bookmark_borderTalking Heads
bookmark_borderDouble Duty
I’ve been working and thinking a lot about various things related to writing.
One is layering.
bookmark_borderWord frequency counter; an add-in for Word
I have to give a shout-out to this word frequency counter add-in for Word:
http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/word_tip_pages/word_usage_and_frequency_report.html
Continue reading “Word frequency counter; an add-in for Word”
bookmark_borderPainting with Words
It’s been pointed out to me (and I’ve been subconsciously aware) that my writing over the past year or two has become more convoluted and laced with more (sometimes) challenging grammatical errors.
bookmark_borderNaNoWriMo 2015
I had some difficulty with NaNoWriMo this year.
I came up with a theme, imagined characters, devised a situation and started writing. Seven days later I had just over the 11,670 target words for the seventh day of November, but with the exception of two or three moments the story wasn’t moving me and I was not happy with the quality of the prose. Having completed three NaNoWriMo novels in six previous years I saw no value in repeating the experience of finishing a novel just to say I had done so, especially if I was unhappy with the result.