by Jamie Chavez | Oct 14, 2013 | The Writing Craft
Our lives are full of lists—from the grocery list to the Ten Commandments to that list of pros and cons you made back when you were twenty-three and trying to decide whether to break up with your boyfriend or marry him. Consider Rob Fleming’s Top-Five lists in Nick...
by Jamie Chavez | Aug 31, 2013 | The Writing Craft
You may have seen this essay from Chuck Palahniuk before, but I just stumbled on it a couple weeks ago. It’s been around for awhile and I can’t seem to (easily) find the original original source, but Palahniuk put his imprimatur on this one when he tweeted it, so I’m...
by Jamie Chavez | Jul 1, 2013 | The Writing Craft, Your Editor Says …
There are chapter breaks and then there are … well, I call them hiatus breaks. Some folks call them scene breaks. You know what I’m talking about: you’re reading along and come to some space inserted between one paragraph and the next—smack-dab in the middle of a...
by Jamie Chavez | Dec 13, 2012 | Your Editor Says …
I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking all the time. Stream of consciousness and all that. Your characters have thoughts too—separate from the narrative. And when a character has a thought important enough to write about, important enough to draw attention to, let’s...
by Jamie Chavez | Aug 20, 2012 | Guest Posts, The Writing Craft, Words & Language
My friend Billie* always sends me the coolest links. So naturally, I’m going to share them with you. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts in editing; I’m meeting deadlines tonight. But here’s a great post about reducing important thoughts into a few words. Try it!...
