Category: Tips for Writing Novels
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William Atheling and The Issue at Hand
While he wrote fiction, James Blish secretly sent in a ton of critical essays pushing by force the entire genre to think critically about itself under the pseudonym William Atheling, Jr and the title The Issue at Hand. In it, he gave scathing rebukes of his best friends — some of his contemporary masters of science…
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The Best of CL Moore — Catherine Moore’s empathy
As I continue to work my way through classic science fiction short story anthologies, The Best of CL Moore came up next. The books I borrowed (all at once and for an insanely long amount of time) are almost exclusively first editions from the Brooklyn Public Library. I’ve treated them tenderly. As I’ve gone through…
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Anthony Cirilla Interview
A Dialog Between Editor Lancelot Schaubert and Three-Time Contributor to OF GODS AND GLOBES, Dr. Anthony Cirilla : * * * Ed. Lancelot Schaubert: So this Of Gods and Globes series isn’t astrology, or isn’t supposed to be, so what the heck are we doing here — enough for a third volume? Dr. Anthony Cirilla: As…
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Socratic Dialog Verses Narrative Dialog
There’s a distinction between Socratic dialog and narrative dialog in recorded debates and stories respectively. I hope to show that when both are perfected, the distinction is erased. Often, my narrative dialog will fall flat when it rises to a Socratic register. And often my Socratic dialogs will feel hollow when they simply serve a…
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Tips for Writing Novels — Use RegEx
I don’t often offer tips for writing novels on here mainly because I’ve only written eight or so and only published a few, but I want to talk about RegEx. As you guys know, I use Scrivener. I use it predominately because I’m a disordered mess of a man who is kept on the rails…