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Monthly Archive: February, 2017

February 23, 2017

Ordinary Life Quote by Harvey Pekar: The Key to Realism

This ordinary life quote by Harvey Pekar is one of those extremely simple, straightforward quotes that manages to be extremely deep and complicated, as well. “Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.”  — Harvey Pekar That’s true, right? It feels true, anyway. And (IMHO), that’s the key to realism – complexity. It’s the little everyday details that are easy to forget...
Categories Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0
February 21, 2017

Bureaucratic Red Tape as a Plot Device: Can Your Protagonist Get Through?

Bureaucracy, if you’ll excuse my French (why is it French?), is an inescapable facet of real life, and is, therefore, handy for realism. After having my own bewildering struggle with bureaucratic red tape recently (I’ll tell you about it in a minute), it occurred to me that nothing beats bureaucratic red tape as a plot device – at least not for frustration and...
Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting Comments: 0
February 18, 2017

Literary Speed Sales to Publishers

No, I’ve never heard of this before. I’ve read about similar options for photographers in paid classes at some conferences (which, honestly, sounded very intense). But has anyone heard about literary speed sales to publishers here in the U.S.? Friends share with friends, right? (And save them extra Googling when possible) Did you know such thing even existed? No, it’s...
Categories Business & Publishing/General Thoughts & Updates Comments: 0
February 16, 2017

3 Types of Appeals as Writing Prompts

What on earth is an appeal? Isn’t that something you do when a trial goes the wrong way? (Kind of, but no). The 3 types of appeals I’m talking about are rhetorical techniques. If you’re unfamiliar with the term rhetoric, think of it as the art of persuasion whether in speech or writing. To use these appeals as writing prompts (or even...
Categories Characterization Exercises/Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques/Plotting Exercises/Writing Prompts Comments: 2