The Internet was really buzzing last week with the announcement that Harlequin, a well-established major publisher, would be starting a vanity publishing...
54
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Dec 9, 2009 5:40 pm
This will be the last "writing post" of the year, and instead of writing a post, I've put together a PDF e-book of all the writing posts since I started doing...
55
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Jan 6, 2010 5:39 pm
When writers talk about the way they work, they often describe themselves as "character-driven" or "plot-driven." Or you may hear a particular author's books...
56
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Jan 20, 2010 5:41 pm
Point of view is one of those topics that's just about guaranteed to start a debate if you get enough writers together. It's almost as bad as Mac vs. PC. Some...
57
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Feb 3, 2010 8:11 pm
Previously, I discussed first-person point of view, the "I" books. The more common POV in fiction is third-person, in which the story isn't told by a...
58
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Feb 17, 2010 6:27 pm
This week, I'm looking at building scenes. This is one of those topics where I don't feel like an expert. It's something I'm always struggling with, but there...
59
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Mar 3, 2010 8:37 pm
My writing topic this week is another one of those things where I don't consider myself an expert. I'm just throwing out some ideas I'm playing with. When we...
60
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Mar 17, 2010 4:24 pm
I had one of those real-life experiences that ends up teaching a writing lesson not too long ago. I was taking my recycling to the neighborhood drop-off...
61
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Mar 31, 2010 6:08 pm
I've been thinking about character flaws and how important they are. It's important for characters to be interesting even if they're not likable (and when it...
62
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Apr 14, 2010 4:19 pm
I've got a reader question this week about how to add spontaneity to your writing. This is something I struggle with because I'm a very logical, linear person,...
63
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Apr 28, 2010 4:36 pm
When we develop characters, we generally do a lot of work on their inner lives -- what do they want and why, what has hurt them, what do they fear, what do...
64
Shanna Swendson
swendson
May 12, 2010 4:45 pm
I'm continuing my discussion of nonverbal communication. This time, I'm going to talk about sitting, standing, walking and lying -- all the very basic states...
65
Shanna Swendson
swendson
May 26, 2010 5:13 pm
I've been talking about the various ways you can use nonverbal communication in developing characters. The way people use personal space tells you a lot about...
66
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Jun 9, 2010 1:44 pm
I had a reader question about how I do research for a book, so in the next couple of writing posts I'll address that. I do three kinds of research: market...
67
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Jun 23, 2010 5:19 pm
By reader request, I'm discussing my research processes. Last writing post, I talked about doing market research. Now I'll talk about "research research." As a...
68
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Jul 7, 2010 7:47 pm
For the next few writing posts, I thought I'd tackle the subject of revisions, since that's the stage I'm currently on in a book and I've received a lot of ...
69
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Jul 21, 2010 5:27 pm
I'm still talking about revision. Last time, I dealt with the big-picture, story-level revisions. I'm going to get into the more detailed level of revision,...
70
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Aug 4, 2010 6:40 pm
I've been talking about revision, going from the big picture on down, and now I'm down to the fine tuning. This is the part where you fix the words, making ...
71
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Aug 18, 2010 6:51 pm
In talking about revision, I mentioned that checking your plot against one of the standard outlines was a good way to look at your book from a big-picture ...
72
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Sep 1, 2010 7:59 pm
In the last writing post, I started a series working through the steps of the Hero's Journey, as outlined in the book The Writer's Journey, by Christopher ...
73
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Sep 15, 2010 7:13 pm
I'm continuing to look at the stages of the hero's journey, as distilled for modern storytelling by Christopher Vogler in the book The Writer's Journey. I've ...
74
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Sep 29, 2010 3:21 pm
I'm continuing the discussion of the stages of the hero's journey, as described in The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler. We've covered the Ordinary...
75
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Oct 13, 2010 4:57 pm
I'm continuing the discussion of the stages of the hero's journey, as discussed in The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler. We started in the Ordinary...
76
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Nov 3, 2010 4:58 pm
I was out of town last week, so I got off schedule for the every-other-week post. Now I'm continuing the discussion of the stages of the hero's journey, as ...
77
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Nov 17, 2010 7:20 pm
I'm still following the stages of the hero's journey, as outlined by Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer's Journey, which takes the work on universal...
78
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Dec 1, 2010 6:29 pm
On the hero's journey, as outlined by Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer's Journey, we're up to a stage called Ordeal. I have the first edition of the...
79
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Dec 15, 2010 5:13 pm
We're getting close to the end of the stages of the hero's journey, as distilled from Joseph Campbell's work by Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer's ...
80
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Jan 5, 2011 7:18 pm
It's a new year and time to get back to the every-other-week writing posts. I've been analyzing the various stages in the hero's journey, as Christopher Vogler...
81
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Jan 19, 2011 7:17 pm
We're almost at the end if the Hero's Journey, with just a couple of stages to go. We've reached the climax of the story, what Christopher Vogler, in his book ...
82
Shanna Swendson
swendson
Feb 2, 2011 6:09 pm
We've reached the last stage of the hero's journey. He's gone on his quest, survived an ordeal and has gone through a death and resurrection. Now he gets to go...
