Category: Guest Posts

What Can Theatre Do For You?

A Guest Post
by Benjamin Steele

Some time ago I was approached by my mum, Carolyn Steele, who wanted my opinion for a blog post. She said it was about characters, what makes them flat or page-leapy, and how we feel about our creations. She had to stop me when I started to ramble about Stanislavski, and we decided there might be a post in how an actor’s method could benefit the fiction writer. I would like to share with you how my experience as an actor and playwright helps my development of prose characters.

So you’ve got a character that comes off a little flat, a little boring—he’s just zis guy you know? I’ve heard all sorts of tips for giving characters a little more life: the most common being physical or personality quirks, and rich backgrounds that shape their development. While these are undoubtedly useful tools for both the writer and the actor, I consider them to be traps. These should be supplementary tools, second to the arguably most important influence on a character’s action: Dreams of the future. Continue reading “What Can Theatre Do For You?”

Writing Contests Have Been Good To Me – and They Can Be Good To You, Too

Guest post
by Sandra Gardner

My love affair with writing contests began years ago when I was writing poetry seriously. I’d racked up a number of publication credits from small literary journals and anthologies. I subscribed to Poets & Writers Magazine – still one of my favorites for publications and contests. Continue reading “Writing Contests Have Been Good To Me – and They Can Be Good To You, Too”

Writing Reviews: What many readers don’t know

A Guest Post
by T.K. McEachin

It’s no secret to those who know me personally that I am not a huge fan of the Harry Potter novels. Needless to say, if these novels or any others encourage reading in children, that alone is reason enough to admire & respect the authors. So, a few months ago, J.K. Rowling enters the adult fiction genre with her latest book, The Casual Vacancy. After reading so many of the bad reviews that were unrelated to the quality of the book itself (silly comparisons to Harry Potter, for example), I realized one thing: many readers simply do not understand the purpose of the reviewing ability many websites give them. I estimate that approximately 20-40% of reader reviews are unfair & biased (which is their right upon coughing up the cash for the book, technically). Many are useless in that they tell you nothing about the book itself. I’m one of those avid readers who will peruse dozens of reviews for a work of fiction, to aid in my buying decision. This is especially the case, when deciding whether or not to buy a new book that a seasoned author has written, when I didn’t care for the previous one(s). Even if I don’t like a book, I don’t always give up on an author and when reviewing, I try to find some redeeming quality to share along with the negative aspects, after all, I’m a writer as well. Continue reading “Writing Reviews: What many readers don’t know”

On Twitter Literature

Guest post
by Robert K. Blechman

Willum Mortimus Granger was beside himself. In fact when his body was found the top half was right next to the bottom.

Thus begins my live-tweeted comic mystery novel, Executive Severance. The investigating detective soon realizes that the victim was on Twitter when he was slain. Were his Twitter posts the key to solving his murder? Further along in the investigation, the detective is asked for his ID and flashes his cell phone: Continue reading “On Twitter Literature”