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Author Archives: dbjackson
Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, part V — What Makes a Good Ending?
Continuing my Professional Wednesday feature on “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings,” (previous posts can be found here, here, here, and here) I now turn to endings. And I will begin by stating the obvious: The ending to our story is likely … Continue reading
Posted in Falstaff Books, Fantasy, Islevale Cycle, Novels, Reading, Setting, Short Fiction, Thieftaker, Writing
Tagged blogging, Casablanca, character development, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Guy Gavriel Kay, how to write, Islevale Cycle, Lord of the Rings, narrative, narrative arc, Thieftaker Chronicles, three-act structure, Tigana, Time's Assassin, writing, writing advice, writing tips
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Monday Musings: Humans Behaving Stupidly
In real life, it’s not so easy. When actors in life’s drama do dumb things, we can’t revise the narrative to avoid disaster. We’ve all experienced the frustration. We’re reading a book or watching a movie or television show, and … Continue reading
Posted in History, nature, Politics, Writing
Tagged blogging, climate change, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, environment, global climate change, global warming, history, nature, politics, writing
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Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, part IV — Keeping Our Plots Tight
Today, I bring you one more “Middles” post in my several-weeks-long feature on “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings.” You can find past posts in the series here, here, and here. I made the self-evident point a couple of weeks ago that … Continue reading
Posted in Angry Robot Books, Bell Bridge Books, Belle Books, Business of publishing, Falstaff Books, Invasives, Islevale Cycle, Novels, Publishing, Radiants, The Chalice War, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, how to write, Islevale Cycle, organic writing, outlining, pacing, Radiants, revising, The Chalice War, Tor Books, Vernor Vinge, Vernor's Rule, Winds of the Forelands, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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Monday Musings: Contemplating Our Republic As July 4th Approaches
This is a holiday week and Nancy’s first week as FORMER acting-president of the university. And so I am feeling lazy and rather unmotivated. I can think of lots of stuff to write about, but those thoughts have been slow … Continue reading
Posted in Family, History, Politics
Tagged Affirmative Action, blogging, Cheeto Fuck-nuts, constitution, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, democracy, elections, family, history, marriage, politics, Supreme Court, Winston Churchill
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Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, part III — The 60% Wall
Today, I add to my series of posts about “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings,” with a continued focus on the vast middle of the novel. If you wish to go back and read my first two essays in this feature on … Continue reading
Posted in Character, Novels, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, character, character development, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, how to write, narrative, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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Monday Musings: What We’re Watching These Days
Today’s post is a bit late, for which I apologize. It also offers a break from some of the more weighty topics I’ve covered in my Monday posts. I sometimes feel that I get too serious with my essays week … Continue reading
Posted in Character, Family, Fun, movies
Tagged acting, Andor, blogging, character, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Derry Girls, Lockwood and Co., Netflix, plotting, reviews, streaming, television, The Diplomat, The Last Kingdom, The Night Agent
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Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, part II — Narrative Structure
Last week, I began a new Professional Wednesday feature called “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings,” in which I plan to write about the various parts of story writing. In last week’s post, I focused on openings, on how to approach the … Continue reading
Posted in movies, Novels, Reading, Thieftaker, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, harry potter, how to write, J.R.R. Tolkien, narrative, plotting, revisions, The Hobbit, Thieftaker, three-act structure, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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Monday Musings: What’s Next?
Today is Juneteenth, of course — a (now) federally recognized holiday commemorating the emancipation of slaves in 1865. And I wish all of you a wonderful day of celebration and reflection. As proud as I am of Joe Biden’s push … Continue reading
Posted in Family, kids, parenting, Politics, travel
Tagged blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, family, Juneteenth, kids, life issues, marriage, parenting, race, racial politics, Travel
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Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, Part I — Openings
This week, I launch a new series here in the Professional Wednesday feature — “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings.” Sometimes I focus on minute details of writing in these posts, arcane points of craft or business that are helpful to some, … Continue reading
Posted in Bell Bridge Books, Belle Books, Friendship, Novels, Radiants, Short Fiction, Writing
Tagged Bell Bridge Books, Belle Books, blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, friendship, Guy Gavriel Kay, how to write, J.D. Blackrose, Joelle Reizes, novels, opening lines, openings, Radiants, short fiction, writing, writing advice, writing tips
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Monday Musings: AI Content Creation? No, Thanks
I’ll start by assuring you that this is not one of those posts. I’m not going to share my feelings regarding AI generated content and then reveal at the very end of the post that everything you’ve read was actually … Continue reading
Posted in Friendship, technology, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged Artificial Intelligence, blogging, creativity, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, friendship, technology, Terminator, writer's block, writing, writing life
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