Diane Sherlock
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An essential element for good writing is a good ear: One must listen to the sound of one’s own prose. – Barbara Tuchman I’ve found that I’m not alone in the experience of writing at least in part because I didn’t have a voice growing up. Many find their voice when they escape their families…
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A friend who’s writing a book – a ‘publish or perish’ tenure track type of book – asked me if I have any tips on finishing. Well… not really. I mostly need help in the great chaotic middle when it looks like the entire book is going to fall apart and I’ve just wasted months…
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What do James Frey and Pontius Pilate have in common? “What is truth?” was Pilate’s famous question. Neither one is clear that truth exists. Frey’s opinion is not surprising given his opinions as related in a recent New York magazine article (which caused a lot of outrage among my writer friends for his factory): Frey…
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News! The Rumpus just put up my piece on their series The Last Book I Loved – Nice Work by David Lodge, if you’re wondering. Lodge is a wonderful comic writer introduced to me by the brilliant Rob Roberge. I learned a lot (and was inspired by) reading and annotating comic novels by Lodge as well as Richard…
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What are some of the reasons for stopping? In his book (which I recommend) on writing, IMMEDIATE FICTION, Jerry Cleaver makes the case for conflict and continually raising the stakes: “Happy lives make lousy novels…. If the characters are having a good time, the reader is not.” What if, on the other hand, it’s about you…
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Great post on how different writers write – routine or lack of it, setting deadlines, using page count vs. word count. I use word count, setting a rough goal (for the next novel, it will likely be in the 90,000 range) and then daily and weekly targets. It helps. What do Cormac McCarthy and Flannery…
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I am a lucky writer. I am fortunate to have a great network of talented writers. Some of us check in weekly, I have coffee or lunch with others now and then and we compare notes, cheer each other on or offer consolation. It helps tremendously. Forget the lonely garret. No one is successful by…
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Mingle, people, mingle! Go write with others. That’s where I’m headed – a cafe to meet a couple of fellow writers…
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A hand, a foot, a leg, a head, Stood for the whole to be imaginèd. (Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, ll. 1427-8) What if you write a scene of sex, violence, or intense emotion and focus only on one of the character’s body parts? Oh stop, not the obvious ones either. And yeah, I’m being silly…
Diane Sherlock 
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