novel
Phonies: J.D. Salinger and Wielding Copyright as Self-Protection
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After J.D. Salinger published his story “Hapworth 16, 1924” in The New Yorker in 1965, he decided to stop publishing his works. Although he had resigned from his nearly twenty-year-long stint in the literary spotlight, retreating to a home in Cornish, New Hampshire, and beginning a reclusive lifestyle, he assured The New York Times in…
Tool Tip: SyncBackFree To Backup Your Writing
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Your computer dies with all your work stuck on your hard drive. It is a scenario that scares every writer and almost everyone experiences once. Fortunately, there is a free solution, SyncBackFree from the 2BrightSparks which you can find here. To date I have only used the free version and it works so well I…
Gurudev on How to Succeed in Life
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Here is a short video from one of my favorite inspirational sources on “How To Succeed in Life.” Some good advice is defining success around one’s happiness and joy. Just having a lot of money or becoming famous doesn’t mean you will be happy. Often it can leave you miserable. Let me know your thoughts…
Resource: American Dialect Links
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Today I share another resource. Dialect Guide: American Dialects by Point Park University, a handy site for helping to write authentic dialog. The site is organized by General American, Northern Dialects and Southern Dialects. Under each heading they have Audio Resources, Library Resources, Local Resources (by name), followed by Video Examples, Plays and more. Here…
This Will Change Your Life
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Looking for inspiration that will change your life. This is a great video and the timing couldn’t be more appropriate. Ed explains how variety and having new experiences actually creates new neural pathways in the brain. You want to be smarter? Visit new places, meet new people, get out of your routine and mix it…
100+ Query Letter Examples To Get Noticed
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One of the sources that I found helpful comes from thejohnfox.com 100+ Query Letter Examples (That Got Authors and Agent) The query letters cover are linked and organized by genre. There are a lot of helpful tips and this site should be in every writer’s toolbox. According to thejohnfox.com, a successful query often includes a…
Quick Character Development Hack
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Here’s a quick hack I stumbled on to jump start your character development. Try Horoscope.com to develop your character’s traits. This provides a lot of detailed information and even gives you their birthday range. Take Capricorn for example. From the initial screen, we get an overview of their basic traits as serious, independent, disciplined and…
July & August Writing Contests 2023
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Fiction Factory Flash FictionTop Prize £300Entry Fee: $7Deadline: July 31, 2023 This is an international competition, open to writers from all over the world over the age of 16. Stories may be on any theme, but we sadly do not accept YA or Children’s stories. Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, Crime, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Science Fiction,…
Outlining your Novel
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Below is the storyboard template that she shares on her site at http://momentumclubs.org/simple-story-outline.html which notes that it is from creativindie.com. This is very similar to the one that I use and will give you a good outline. Whether you write by the seat of your pants, or you outline every scene, it’s helpful to know…
How Querying Improved My Novel
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The process of querying and writing the synopsis, as difficult as they were, improved my novel and my writing. I am truly grateful for the process and I encourage everyone to take it to heart and see if it strengthens your story or exposes any weaknesses in your writing. You may be amazed like I…