Tag: Writing

A Big Thank You

The past few weeks I’ve written some pretty heavy stuff. The long and tedious “Department of Justice Investigation” post—did anyone actually make it through that? The detailed “Categories to #1” post was a mind bender.

I’m going to ease off the pedal today and try to keep this post under 1,000 words. Actually, this post is one of the easiest I’ll ever do. I want to pause for a moment and just say … THANKS!

Seriously, so many of you have been such a big help to me. Let me start with the Indies Unlimited contributing authors. Wow, I don’t think a better collection of authors exist that help others become successful every day of the week. Man, you guys are good. I’ve learned so much in the brief two months that I’ve been a part of this. Continue reading “A Big Thank You”

Ed’s Casual Friday: When good research goes bad

Today, I’ll be pushing the bounds of the “Casual” part of the column title, as this is more of a story than a post. However, it’s the sort of thing that often makes my fellow writers smile ruefully, while “regular people” look at me like I’m psychotic. So here we go.

Back in the mid ‘90’s, when flannel-clad Grunge bands roamed wild and free, I was an apple-cheeked (just go with it) student at a Midwestern university. I was studying Literature, with a Creative Writing emphasis, which of course means I was writing a lot of short stories. And reading a lot of short stories. And talking about a lot of short stories. But because nobody actually wants to grow up to be a short story writer (“I have a burning need to express myself through the written word…briefly.”), of course I was working on a novel. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: When good research goes bad”

Why I Write About Women by Terry L. White

I had a comment the other day that I tend to write about women. I am not sure if this was a complaint or an accolade. I am a woman, and while some folks say a female should not even attempt to write from the male point of view – when in point of fact Stephen King proved otherwise in Rose Red and Dolores Claiburn – I am drawn to illuminating the woman’s lot.

It seems to me that there is a body of history written by half of the participants in any given era. Men go off to war and have the big adventures in their life, and when they are old, they write about the glory parts and never mention the women who stayed behind. This is right and proper, but that old saying about a good woman standing behind a successful man is true. Women do a lot – and deserve to have their stories told, no matter how humble, as part of a larger story. Continue reading “Why I Write About Women by Terry L. White“

There is no one write true way….

Author Valerie Douglas
Author Valerie Douglas

Yes, I spelled that correctly, just to make a point. Lately I’ve seen a few posts on LinkedIn and Facebook where one writer purports to tell other writers just how to write. Even worse, at least two of them  stated that Stephen King (yeah, THAT Stephen King, the one that sells bajillions of books.) was doing it wrong.

Outside of the obvious hubris and ridiculousness of that remark (see I can  be nice, I used ridiculous instead of the word I wanted to use) given his output and success, was the relative unsuccess of two of the writers. Even for me, the Queen of snark, it was a little absurd. Continue reading “There is no one write true way….”