Author: Gordon Long

Gordon A. Long is a writer, editor, publisher, playwright, director and teacher. 
Learn more about Gordon and his writing from his blog and his Author Central page.

Find and Replace: The Writer’s Best Friend

find and replace for authorsI use the Find and Replace tool in MSWorks a great deal while I’m editing. It works if you discover a consistent spelling mistake. It’s great for fixing names, especially when writing Fantasy, where I can never remember the spelling of my own characters’ names. But it’s good for other things as well, and when you get into formatting for publication, it takes on a whole new meaning.

I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I’ll mention a few of my favourite uses, and maybe our more experienced readers can add to the list in the Comments below. In my version of MSWorks I find this function in the “Edit” dropdown menu. Continue reading “Find and Replace: The Writer’s Best Friend”

Tips for Realism in Writing

boring writing book-15584_960_720The mantra for writers these days is “Make it realistic.” After all, it won’t be long before we’re competing with three-dimensional, five-sense virtual reality. But we will never try to do that. It is impossible to give the reader everything, and you don’t want to. The trick to giving the reader a wonderful experience is to make the right choices in what we show.

Naturalism: the Ultimate Reality

There was a movement in the theatre world in the nineteenth century. The performers were trying new ways to make their performances as realistic as possible. One offshoot of this movement was the “naturalism” school. These people had the brilliant idea that the best way to show realistic theatre was to show reality. Actors woke up in the morning pretending to be their character. They went through their whole day as their character. By the time they reached the theatre, they were totally immersed in their role. This is now called “method acting,” and many performers use adapted versions today.

However, other theatrical geniuses tried to take the “reality” much farther. Someone actually had the idea of taking the side off an apartment building and placing seating there instead, so the audience could watch the tenants go about their daily lives. Can you imagine? Continue reading “Tips for Realism in Writing”

The Myth of the Reader

are all readers authors? drawing_handsI’m sorry to inform my dear friends and readers (more on that later), but after exhaustive research and continuous toil involving the consumption of 235 megs of information, 84 gigs of bandwidth and 753 bags of taco chips, I have come to the undeniable conclusion that the independent reader no longer exists. The reader, that is, who simply purchases a book and reads it, with no intention of reviewing, commenting or writing something similar.

As near as I can make out, the last extant reader of books for her own enjoyment is Mrs. Fanny Bruce of Nottinghamshire (pronounced “Notshur”) in England. This poor lady is in the middle stages of dementia. Her family gave her three Agatha Christie mysteries for Christmas in 2013, and her caregiver reads them to her in a continuing sequence. The dear old soul lives in an imaginary world where Agatha Christie is still alive and putting out a new mystery every few months. Continue reading “The Myth of the Reader”

Should I Use MailChimp for My Author Newsletter?

mailchimp-logoWhat is MailChimp, and what is it good for? Of course, everyone does things differently, so I thought I’d offer a brief rundown on how I use Mailchimp to manage my mail-outs in a very basic way, and how it might be useful to you. This is not a review or an IU official endorsement. It is a slice of life that perhaps you can learn from. If you want to know more about creating a newsletter, see Jim Devitt’s post, Developing the Perfect Author Newsletter.

MailChimp is an email marketing service. You write your email; they send it to everyone you want and keep track of what happens to it after that. As far as the sending part, they don’t do much that you couldn’t do in your normal email program. For the analytical part, they provide information that I have no idea how to find myself, and this is the main reason I use the service. And on top of it, my newsletters look more professional. Continue reading “Should I Use MailChimp for My Author Newsletter?”