Basic Plots: Vonnegut’s Man in Hole

Ciao, SEers. I’m back again to talk about story structure (admittedly an obsession of mine). Love him or hate him, one of the twentieth centuries most influential and prolific authors was Kurt Vonnegut. Though he studied at some of our nation’s finest institutions (including my alma mater), he never studied writing. And when he wrote …

What’s In an Edit?

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today. Let’s talk about editing. I recently read a book that had a good plot. The story was intriguing. The writing grammatically correct. I didn’t find any spelling or punctuation errors. Sound like the person had a good editor, right? Not necessarily. Throughout the book, there were countless repeated …

Let’s poke it with a stick

Hi, Gang. Craig with you today, and we’re going to do something different. I believe that nearly everything can be a case study of sorts. We get bits and bobs from everything we see, hear, observe, but some things like books, television, and films can help us with story structure. My SE partners are nicer …

Changing Literary Styles (Part Two)

Hey, SE Readers. Happy Friday. Joan with you today with the second in a two-part series on changing literary styles. In the first post, I used examples from James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans and Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Today we’ll look at two of my favorite authors. I first read Agatha Christie in high …

Changing Literary Styles (Part One)

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today on this first day in June. Reading is still one of my favorite past times. There’s nothing like curling up on the sofa on a rainy day with a good book in hand. Since becoming an author, I tend to read with a more critical eye, looking for …