Guest Post: Scott Bury

On November 26, 2011, in Indie Authors, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

The best, and the worst, things I have done (as a writer) Scott Bury, author of Sam the Strawb Part, is one of the fine indie authors on the Read a Book, Make a Difference (RABMAD) website! He donates part of the proceeds from his book to Children at Risk. Scott and I decided to […]

 

Say It, Don’t Spray It. (And Don’t Tell It.)

On November 23, 2011, in Famous Writers, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

Elmore Leonard (Get Shorty, Justified) said: “All the information you need can be given in dialogue.” He’s on to something. I can’t tell you how quickly poor dialogue ruins a novel for me. The sad thing is I have started a book before where the “telling” starts off very, very well. I am intrigued. I […]

 

Never say NEVER

On November 19, 2011, in Opinion, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

Yes, I know it’s a conundrum. If you never say never, then how can you ever say never, even in telling someone to never say never? And Sean Connery, the greatest Bond EVER, did it again. (If you liked that, you’ll get the section on repetition. If not? Eh, you might still enjoy it. And […]

 

Thoughts for New Writers

On November 8, 2011, in Famous Writers, Indie Authors, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

Whew, time to move on to another blog topic. My last post stirred up a bit of the hornet’s nest—in some ways, rightly so. Which is what prompted me to write this blog. There were several comments to my <challenge whose name shall not be spoken> blog that really got me to thinking. None more […]

 

My Uncle Jack

On September 15, 2011, in Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

My last couple of posts were a little heavy. Serious subject matter, and not a lot of advice to writers. So I plan to rectify both counts today. Not that what I am about to share is not serious—it is—but it’s not very deep. And it definitely qualifies as “advice”. Imagine your elation. Last week […]

 

A Needle in a Stack of Needles

On September 6, 2011, in The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

I can’t be the only writer who feels this way. I believe in my work. I am my own worst critic, so it’s not like I lay around eating sugar sandwiches knowing the gravy train can only be a few minutes from the station. Okay, the part about sugar sandwiches, maybe—but I only eat them […]

 

Entertaining Me To Death

On September 3, 2011, in The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

I recently blogged on passive voice and using too many clichés. A responder on Twitter wrote that, while what I said was true, it is entertainment and exposure that make bestsellers in the fiction genre. This response, while not all that uncommon, really got me to thinking. I believe there are few misconceptions in what […]

 

The Passive-Aggressive Cliché

On August 30, 2011, in Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

Wow. I read some books today that made my brain want to pull the curtains, pop a few Percocet, and sleep for a fortnight. Bad. Not grammatically so, yet so littered with clichés (to use my own) and streaming so much weak, passive writing that, well, it made me want to blog about it. Each […]