Category Archives: Reading

Professional Wednesday: Most Important Lessons — Trust Yourself, Trust Your Reader

Posted on March 9, 2022 by dbjackson

Today, I’m introducing a new feature for my Professional Wednesday posts: “Most Important Lessons.” We are coming up on the 28th anniversary of the start of my career (which I trace to the offer I received from Tor Books on … Continue reading →

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Professional Wednesday: Top Ten Reasons You Need INVASIVES!!

Posted on February 16, 2022 by dbjackson

In case the daily teasers and cover art reveals and previous blog posts all failed to tip you off, this is release week for Invasives, the second Radiants novel. It comes out on Friday, February 18! Yay!! Release weeks are … Continue reading →

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Professional Wednesday: The Two World-Builds

Posted on March 10, 2021 by dbjackson

They don’t care that the twelfth king of Hamsterdom was Belchamiethius IV, known to his subjects as “Conquerer of the Exercise Wheel.” They don’t need to know the names of each mountain peak in the Twelve Dunce Cap Range. This … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Ten Books You Should Read

Posted on December 23, 2020 by dbjackson

Early in the year — even before the pandemic hit — I wrote a post in which I basically said that all writers should read. There are certain “rules” about the profession that are actually negotiable — writers don’t really … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Anatomy of a Rewrite

Posted on October 7, 2020 by dbjackson

As I described in a recent Writing-tip Wednesday post, I have been working recently on a trunk series — a pair of books, the first two in a projected trilogy, that I initially wrote nearly ten years ago. I have … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Writing Musically

Posted on August 26, 2020 by dbjackson

It will come as no secret to anyone who knows me that I am a huge fan of The West Wing, in particular Seasons 1-4, when series creator Aaron Sorkin was writing nearly every episode, and his creative partner, Thomas … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: My Favorite Reference Books

Posted on June 24, 2020 by dbjackson

Last week’s Writing-Tip Wednesday post was about the computer apps I use most when researching, outlining, and writing books and stories. As promised, this week I want to look at what are probably the most important writing tools I have: … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: “A Feat of Association”

Posted on June 3, 2020 by dbjackson

Sometimes, originality lies not in the absolute novelty of what we come up with, but rather in the connections we make between two or more disparate influences. One of my favorite musicals of all time is West Side Story. The … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: A Special Post on Narrative and Creativity

Posted on May 20, 2020 by dbjackson

This is a somewhat longer post than usual, but I hope you’ll read through it. It is the text of an address I gave a few years ago at our local high school to mark the Day of the Book … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Dialogue, Part I

Posted on April 1, 2020 by dbjackson

I love writing dialogue, in part because I love reading dialogue. I believe that people are natural eavesdroppers. We like to listen in on other people’s conversations. That’s what reading dialogue is all about – it is one of the … Continue reading →

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