In a previous post I stressed the importance of assigning a working title to your novel (short story, essay, screen play…) before you begin to write it. But I had nothing to say about titles …
Goshen, Joseph, Rameses, Moses, Jeremiah & the Nile
Over the millennia of prehistory, the modern Nile River is at least the fifth major version of itself to have flowed from the Ethiopian highlands through North Africa and down to the Great Western …
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Getting down Chapter 1
Moving beyond the opening of a novel and completing its first chapter, although it must be done, can be emotional and stressful, like dropping your child off on the first day of school. Is he or she …
The best and worst of openings…
There’s nothing more important, or difficult, than crafting a novel’s first sentence. Except perhaps for the sentence that follows. Charles Dickens, however, often made it look easy. Consider Dickens’ …
If stocks won’t go up, don’t buy them…
Some advice can be sound but useless, especially when it comes to writing. Consider the following six simple "rules" for writing the perfect novel. Write an engaging first sentence.From that, build …
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First things first, Part 2
In my previous post in this category, First things first, I mentioned the wisdom of choosing a working title for a project before beginning to write, best practice down to the level of producing …