Tag Archives: writing life

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: Single Point of View v. Multiple Point of View

Posted on May 27, 2020 by dbjackson

If you know me, if you have been with me in panel discussions at conventions, if you have ever received any sort of writing advice from me, or even heard me give such advice to others, I need for you … 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: Ideas — Finding Them, Using Them

Posted on May 13, 2020 by dbjackson

You may notice at this point that I have yet to offer any tangible advice on dealing with or coming up with ideas. That’s right: I’m stalling. Writing about ideas is really hard. Giving advice on developing ideas is nearly … Continue reading →

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Writing Tip-Wednesday: Reevaluating Goals in the Time of Covid-19

Posted on May 6, 2020 by dbjackson

Each of us responds in his or her own way to stress and uncertainty and fear – and there is plenty of all three to go around right now. I have one friend who has been unbelievably productive during the … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: When is a Manuscript Done?

Posted on April 29, 2020 by dbjackson

There comes in the revision process a point of diminishing returns. And upon reaching that point, we need to say, “The novel is good enough, as good as I can make it with the feedback and skills and tools at … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Making the Most of Our Present Situation

Posted on April 22, 2020 by dbjackson

My Writing-Tip Wednesday post for last week was a downer (and also had a rather annoying typo near the end, for which I apologize). No way around it: The publishing business is in a bad place right now, and if … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: The Scary New Realities of Publishing

Posted on April 15, 2020 by dbjackson

Really, though, this is about more than the immediate economic and health crises. Publishing has been in trouble for some time now – falling profits, fewer opportunities for writers and their books, less support for those writers who do land … Continue reading →

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Dialogue, part II — Attribution

Posted on April 8, 2020 by dbjackson

Last week’s Writing-Tip Wednesday post began a two part series on dialogue with some advice on the writing of the actual “spoken” words we put in the mouths of our characters. Today, I follow that up with a discussion of … 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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