Adverbs Over Easy

Grammar & Punctuation

You know what adverbs are right?  They are those pretty
little descriptive words that modifies an adjective, verb or word group.  If you’ve forgotten what they are let me help you.

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Are You Up for Writing Horror?

Interesting Tidbits

With the recent launch of the Absent Willow Review I have received quite a few inquiries regarding the content of the site.  While it is open to horror, fantasy, and science fiction there seems to be a lot of interest in the horror aspect.  I’m a fan of horror fiction.  I have my opinion on [...]

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The Tricky Little Comma

Grammar & Punctuation

The comma seems like a simple little guy.  He’s small and easy to use.  So easy to use that the careless writer often begins to use him in places he’s not needed.  In time, the over-used comma can become a plague.  One that transforms an otherwise stellar piece of work into one fraught with unnecessary pauses and [...]

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Writing For Kids

Interesting Tidbits

If you’re a children’s book writer, or an aspiring one, this website may be the place for you.  Check out Write4Kids.  I spent some time on it to make sure it would be of use to you and it appears to be a chock full of ideas. It made the Writers Digest.com list of websites for [...]

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Do You Have to Read to Be a Great Writer?

Inspiration

In a word. YES.
It’s a funny thing.  When I was younger I held on to this odd notion that if I read alot while I was writing one of my books or stories I would inadvertently pick up the author’s voice and my story would no longer sound like me.  I thought it would hamper [...]

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How To Keep Track of Your Ideas

Writing Tips

As a writer, how do you keep track of your ideas? Especially when you are bombarded with them during the day?  This is the opposite of writer’s block.  So what do you do?
I once read an interview where Stephen King talked about having a drawer full of scraps of paper.  Each paper contained a thought [...]

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The Absent Willow Review is Open

General

A note to all authors of horror, science fiction, & fantasy.  The Absent Willow Review officially launched today at 12:01 am, and is accepting submissions..  Happy Halloween!

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MindMapping Your Way to Greatness

Writing Tools

I recently started a research project on an early 20th century writer.  His body of work meant that I had a tremendous amount of data to collect. At first the prospect of compiling it all was daunting. Should I gather it all in separate documents or outlines?  What I was looking for was themes in [...]

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Manuscript Format for Your Novel

Writing Tips

Last week we took a look at short story formatting.  This week let’s examine how you can go about formatting your novel manuscript. 
First – the basics:
Paper: 8.5 x 11
Margins: 1″ on top and bottom, 1.5″ on sides
Font: 12pt. font.  Use something legible like Courier or Times New Roman.
Title Page: A must.  Your title page should [...]

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Hats Off (again) to Scrivener

Writing Tools

I’m a diehard fan of Scrivener. If you don’t know what Scrivener is or what it looks like you can visit its website.  And no… this is not any sort of paid endorsement.  I’ve spoken about Scrivener before and find myself going back to it over and over again.  When something strikes me as being indispensable [...]

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