Tag: literature

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Writers, GET OFF TWITTER!!! #Writing #Author #Advice #Twitter

Hi Jim, I was hoping you could help me. I’ve been writing for some time. I’ve been doing short stories and poems. I share them to my classmates and followers online and am hoping to get some of them published in a collection after I graduate. Recently though, I’ve come under fire. I wrote something about slavery and now some of the people I … Read More Writers, GET OFF TWITTER!!! #Writing #Author #Advice #Twitter

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The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

Okay, so it looks like I’m still getting a lot of publishing questions. These are recurrent questions I get on a regular basis, and while I want to try to respond to everyone who reaches out to me, I don’t want my blog becoming redundant. So I think I’m going to repost this on a weekly basis from now on to help people navigate … Read More The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

Brainstorming 101 #Writing #Author #Advice

Hi James, I have a question for you. I was looking through your library and wondered how you came up with your stories? Looking at your characters, I was curious where you come up with a rather haggard looking dark angel, a girl who I guess is a half dragon, and I guess a shapeshifter? I’ve been trying to write a story for a … Read More Brainstorming 101 #Writing #Author #Advice

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Poetry Peril and Publishing #Writing #Author #Advice #Poetry

Hi there Jim I would like your advise on something. I have a selection of Poems. -I write Poetry and short stories, well long ones too. 😊 AND also about other stuff, – as part of my creative writing.Hence, I never contacted a publishing house or company to do it.….. I used to have a Blog in blogger years ago; Thus I closed it … Read More Poetry Peril and Publishing #Writing #Author #Advice #Poetry

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The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

Okay, so it looks like I’m still getting a lot of publishing questions. These are recurrent questions I get on a regular basis, and while I want to try to respond to everyone who reaches out to me, I don’t want my blog becoming redundant. So I think I’m going to repost this on a weekly basis from now on to help people navigate … Read More The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

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Alternate Universe?

Hi Jim, I hope you don’t mind, but I saw your posts about asking a question and thought I’d shoot you an email. I saw from your other posts that you think using an alternate universe is poor story telling. I wanted to write a sequel to one of my books, but essentially it would be going back and exploring what would have happened … Read More Alternate Universe?

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Just Start Over…

Hi Jim, I’m in a major bind… I was working on my latest piece. I’d been working on it for days and… forgot to save it. I was about 140 pages in and suddenly my computer blue-screened. I’ve lost everything and Word didn’t auto-save it. I’m not sure of what to do now. I feel like having to start from scratch is a fairly … Read More Just Start Over…

The Antihero

I’ve always loved the antihero character archetype. To me, the least interesting character has always been the main hero, the good guy, the knight in shining armor. All too often the good guy is the same basic formula; A naive individual called upon to take up a weapon (either literal or metaphorical) and go on a quest to vanquish evil. Throughout this quest s/he … Read More The Antihero

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A Writer in Need.

Hi Jim. I have always wanted to share stories as I have so many in my head constantly, but all I want to do is write some and get feedback as to whether I should go for it or not. Any suggestions as to where I could post something? Please note I work so time is limited sometimes. -Maria nunes Hi Maria, Great question. … Read More A Writer in Need.

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Character Development… At First…

Hi Jim, I was wondering if you could comment on how much of an introduction we should give each of our characters? I’ve gotten a good description down, but how much time should we initially spend focused on the characters personality and traits before really diving into the story. Thanks, Adrienne Hi Adrienne, Good question and the answer is pretty straight forward; AS LITTLE … Read More Character Development… At First…

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The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

Okay, so it looks like I’m still getting a lot of publishing questions. These are recurrent questions I get on a regular basis, and while I want to try to respond to everyone who reaches out to me, I don’t want my blog becoming redundant. So I think I’m going to repost this on a weekly basis from now on to help people navigate … Read More The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

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Hated Character!

Hi Jim, You speak a lot about characters that you love, can you comment on how you write characters you hate? Thanks, Linden Hi Linden, Base them on someone you don’t like. … Yeah, that’s pretty much all I can say about that. Do you need to write a character that you want to be thoroughly dispised? Take someone you don’t like, someone you … Read More Hated Character!