Words of Wisdom on Writing


10 Writing Rules from Elmore Leonard
drawing by Austin Kleon

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The Novel: The beginning

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“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation” Henry David Thoreau Chapter 1 The sea has long been the place of intrigue, battles, struggles and tragic death. Living close by the sea, I became aware of death at an early age. Mother ocean claimed many people close to me by the time I reached adulthood. The intrigue, battles, and struggles came later. Monday, mid-afternoon, a sweltering late August breeze picked up from the south and induced an instant and persistent all over body sweat. The Atlantic Ocean boiled frothy white and choppy. I pointed the bow west to leave the protection of the Albemarle Sound through the Oregon Inlet at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Not the perfect day for a pleasure cruise but with a topless thonged tanned beauty on the bow with drink in hand, a well stocked bar and galley-- summer’s end was too close to waste the opportunity for a short day sail. The wind whistled through the rigging, topside speakers were loud enough to be heard over the wind a...
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Hardcover v. Soft

I asked two questions over the last few days and Mark Terry was gracious enough to answer them. My question: Mark; I don't understand the dynamics of Hardcovers for new authors - the economics don't seen right. How can the book buying public be expected to shell out $25+ for an unknown author. Does it have to do with library sales? Why not trade paperbacks. It seems like the new author at least then has a fightling chance for someone to spend $10-$15 and everyone should still be able to make some scratch this way. John D. MacDonald, an author I admire and respect, put out most of his in mass market paperback. I have read where he made more money this way. Some were eventually published in hardcover, but most came out originally in paperback. What do you think? An Excerpt of his answer : Always a worthwhile question, RJ, and I wish I understood it. I suspect it's part prestige. The rest is probably library sales, which can be considerable, in that there's about 10,000 li...
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New Year's Revolution

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I wanted to write some pearls of wisdom for the coming New Year. I wanted to list some resolutions that would propel me and my career into 2006. Every year in the past, I have sat down after Christmas, reviewed goals of the previous years, and listed new goals for the coming year. Usually, I could review the list with some satisfaction, putting a line through tough goals, and creating the new list combining incomplete goals with ambitious new ones. This year for what ever reason, it has become more difficult than prior years. The words and goals are not as evident. The "things" I want out of life have so drastically changed, that a list seems almost superfluous. If you seek to be a professional writer, author Joe Konrath has an excellent list on his December 17th post at Newbies Guide to Publishing . As for me, I hope to have a few short stories published, find an agent, complete the novel and non-fiction book, and seek a publisher. That is what I am working towards. If you ...
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