Plant the seeds in advance.
It can’t be. I took a second look. Yes, it is. Driving toward me on a two-lane in western Nebraska came four familiar Model A Fords. I pulled to the side and waved as they passed, then followed them a mile into a hotel parking lot.
As soon as they told me,
the facts from several months ago
fell … Continue reading
Never rely on spell-check.
My excuse is that the magazine’s news section is huge, 8,600 words, assembled from more than 100 contributions.
My error was that I rushed this project, putting too much faith in the spell-checker. Yes, the red squiggles in Word alerted me to ones spelled wrong. But no alarm sounded when a wrong, correctly spelled word was used.
English has dozen of words … Continue reading
For coaching on what to cut, watch a film’s special edition.
After I watched a special edition DVD Romancing the Stone, I made a point to see the bonus features. As I watched, I realized they offer insights for a novelist.
Great novels aren’t written, the saying goes. They’re rewritten.
This includes reviewing each scene’s purposes ― confirming it accomplishes such tasks as advancing the … Continue reading