Writing Notes

  1. Conversation with ‘Dancing with Fireflies’ ~ Author Interview

    Today’s post is a transcript from a recent conversation with author Ms. Crysta, founder of ‘Dancing with Fireflies’. Ms. Crysta is a prolific blogger, champion of authors and the writing craft, and acquaintance of mine through our common interests in writing and blogging. J. Aurel: Hello Ms. Crysta, thank you for coming. Would you care for some Tea?Crysta: I would love some. I have actually been a tea drinker for many years. In fact it is one of my many writing rituals, to make a cup of tea...
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  2. Great writing advice, from 300 Script critiques

    Thanks bluebird for this: A professional script reader read 300 screenplays for five different studios, all the while tracking the many recurring problems. The infographic he made with the collected data offers a glimpse at where screenwriting goes wrong.
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  3. Conversation with Ben Ireland ~ Author Interview + Givaway

    Today’s post is a transcript from a recent conversation with author Mr. Ben Ireland, which occurred during his visit to my little corner of the etherverse. Ireland is an up and coming novelist and acquaintance of mine through Xchyler Publishing. You may be interested to know that as a thank you to his fans, Ben Ireland is giving away a set of his books loaded on a Kindle Fire 7″ HD Tablet – LIKE Ben Ireland on Facebook and be entered to win. Enjoy 3 great books on the best e-reader...
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  4. My first publishing contract for a full Novel!!!

    You may yet get to hear the rest of Marcus Wells' story. . . I find it extremely ironic, and borderline providential that this contract was drafted and mailed the same day I defended my PhD Thesis. And yes, I'm signing it. Thank you Hamilton Springs Press! (Xchyler Publishing)!
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  5. Which Novel shall I write?

    Which Novel shall I write? My goal for 2014 is to get published in another anthology, and to get a novel written for submission in 2015. But I need your help, on the latter part. I’ve got a lot of ideas, and some already started stories. But I’m not sure which one to pursue! I won’t be able to start any serious novel writing for a month or two, but I need get the pot stewing on the plot and character development now so that I am ready when I have time. Take a look at the ideas below and...
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  6. Plots, Voices, and Short Stories, Oh My!

    Originally posted on Xchyler publishing's blog as: Featured Friday: Plots, Voices, and Short Stories, Oh My! BY AUTHOR J. AUREL GUAY The American Dream Like 80% of Americans I’ve dreamed of publishing a novel, and like most of that 80%, I don’t have a background in literature or English. But, if we are honest with ourselves, degrees (or lack of them) aren’t really what stop most of us. Why is it that so many of us wannabe authors never get our ‘novel’ ideas published? To quote Bill...
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  7. Guest Post: Ponderings on Collaboration – By Will Flora

    Guest Post: Ponderings on Collaboration – By Will Flora THE FOLLOWING IS A GUEST POST BY ASPIRING AUTHOR AND FRIEND, AND BETA-READER OF MINE, WILL FORA OF SILLY ROBOTS. PLEASE ENJOY! Recently I spent the better part of an afternoon holding my sleeping son with one hand, and sending messages through Facebook back and forth with my other hand. Not just any messages mind you, I was brainstorming an idea for a graphic novel with one of my best friends, a fellow writer, and loving every minute of...
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  8. The 'Gaping Maw' consumes my nerves . . .

    I’ve been looking for an excuse to vent my pet peeve against this phrase. This picture from the Nat Geo ‘Found’ Tumbler provided it. I’m not sure why it strikes me so wrong, but it really grates against my nerves. Maybe its my linguistinc personification acting up, but ‘Maw’ just sounds unfinished and dirty to me. It is rarely ever unaccompanied by ‘Gaping’, which makes it seem weak and dependent . . . It could also be that I saw it so frequently when critiquing submissions from novice...
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  9. Guest post - J. C. Collyer (from my wordpress blog)

    TODAY I’M BUSY WRITING MY THESIS. RATHER THAN BORE YOU WITH THE DETAILS OF KIDNEY DISEASE IN MICE, MY NEW FRIEND SCIENCE FICTION WRITER, AND BLOGGER JEX COLLYER WILL ENTERTAIN AND INFORM YOU ON THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. ENJOY! What Would Batman Do? Making Your Characters Human By J. S. Collyer I think everyone loves stories, or needs them, in some shape or form, whether they be TV series, movies, books, or articles on which celebrity fell into what ditch over the weekend and...
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  10. Self vs. Traditional Publishing: Don’t Limit Yourself

    I posted this in my WF blog yesterday, but I thought it fit well here too. An author friend shared a link to this very interesting report on [URL="http://www.digitalbookworld.com"]www.digitalbookworld.com[/URL] by sociologist Dana Beth Weinberg. <Graph 1 Income by publishing method> Based on a 2013 survey, where authors responded to a variety of questions, Weinburg analyzed some really important and interesting facets related to the self vs traditional publishing debate. Three types of authors were identified, ‘Self Published’,...
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