News, essays and notes on writing
One of the common problems I see as an editor is clumsy dialogue. So often a writer feels the need to explain the dialogue with all manner of cues and instructions, as though they were writing a screen play, or giving notes to an actor. Writing dialogue for general reading is quite different.
Choosing a tense for your story usually isn’t a big deal. Most fiction and even nonfiction is told in past tense, as in: They went there, and then they travelled further.
Point of view is simply that: who is telling your story?
One of the most powerful and essential skills in your writing arsenal is the ability to develop and write believable characters who step off the page into the minds of your readers. But it would seem it’s also one of the hardest skills to effectively master. Do it well, and you haunt the thoughts of your readers.
I was going to make this entire Writers’ Craft series as vlogs. However, I have a problem with my ISP, in that they have not upgraded the lines in our wee village, and so uploading to YouTube is problematic. The first two videos required an overnight upload, with nothing else eating up broadband.
Second installment in the Writers’ Craft series: Genesis of Ideas
Over the next weeks I’ll feature short videos in which I discuss writers’ craft, dispensing knowledge accumulated over the past 40 years in the field of publishing. This first installment is Workspace and Equipment.
I learned this week, with regret, the closure of another excellent small publisher, Bundoran Press. Headed by Hayden Trenholm, Elizabeth Westbrook-Trenholm, and Mike Rimar, Bundoran had a good run in the SF genre, giving voice to Canadian SF authors, and producing work which received literary acclaim.
Started to watch the new, and apparently last, season of CBC’s Anne with an E. While I quite enjoyed the first two seasons, found the exploration of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved Islander character from the point of view of PTSD survivor a fascinating and well-drawn perspective, I’m afraid just short minutes into…
Eight weeks after taking on elder care, it seems it’s over. After an explosive and dramatic Friday, during which our in-laws staged a clandestine flit, the Old Stone House has returned to quietude and harmony. Remember what I wrote earlier about sometimes people don’t want a rescue, can’t accept help? Seems that’s very true.
It’s been eight weeks now since we’ve undertaken the care of my in-laws. It feels like it’s been eight years.
This past week has been one of turmoil, not all of it good. I find myself at a place on the map marked: here there be dragons. I feel unhinged, displaced. I feel astonished, humbled. I find myself staring into the distance and wondering how I arrived here. Life is a journey. Yes. It is.
It is with deep regret I write today to let all of you know I’m shutting down Five Rivers Publishing. Well, mostly.
