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Monthly Archive: November, 2015

November 19, 2015

6 Methods to Hook Readers

Anyone else learn about hooks in high school? You know, those one-line bits of magic that supposedly made your college application essay more interesting and enthralling to the poor brain-numbed grader? They’re baaack… Joking aside, hooks are in everything – or at least the concept of hooks is. A hook isn’t necessarily a one-liner. It can be an idea, a...
Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques Comments: 3
November 17, 2015

Writing Prompts: This Guy Knows How To Think Up Unique Ideas

Need some writing prompts? These’ll alternately hurt your brain or your abs. I think my favorite part is how they manage to simultaneously challenge and mock the potential writer. It’s a little like being given the bird by a writing prompt… “Thirteen Writing Prompts” by Dan Wiencek Write a scene showing a man and a woman arguing over the man’s friendship with...
Categories Humor & Wordplay/Writing Prompts Comments: 0
November 15, 2015

Programs for Writers: Scrivener

Did you know that there are computer programs designed especially for writers? If you look at the list of goodies from the NaNoWriMo sponsors, you’ll see several deals on programs such as Scrivener, Ulysses, Storyist, and Evernote. I have only tried Scrivener, so I can’t describe how the others work; however, I figure that if you hadn’t heard about any of these programs,...
Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Research & Worldbuilding/Writer Resources Comments: 6
November 14, 2015

The All-Important Manuscript Format

If you’ve been looking at places to submit your work (book publishers, magazines, contests, etc.), you’ve probably noticed that just about all of them use the same term. Even in the modern day of sending files instead of printed pages, pretty much all publishers are looking for manuscript format. So what is manuscript format? Instead of trying to explain it myself, I’m...
Categories Business & Publishing/General Thoughts & Updates/Grammar & Editing/Writer Resources Comments: 0