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Creative Writing Blog, Articles, News, and MoreThis 'Creative Writing Blog' is utilitarian, meant to show at a glance what's new to the site. If something strikes me, I write a short note about it. If I add a page
to the site, or update existing pages, they're all listed here. All the creative writing tips and articles remain here until they are bumped off by newer items, so checking back regularly
will keep you up to date on changes, and permanent articles can always be found through the sitemap or internal links. Every time I update the Creative Writing Contests page the link shows up here, and this is also where I add some of the tidbits that I post on Twitter. While this is primarily a blog about writing fiction, I also post time sensitive book news or author announcements that I don't want to turn into permanent web pages
because the information or opportunity is likely to change. For more creative writing news and information, follow me on Twitter. Please help Be-a-Better-Writer.com Grow. Link to this page or click below to LIKE it and share this no-frills creative writing blog with your friends: If you have an RSS reader, be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed at the bottom of the left column for automatic updates whenever I add something new. Return from the Creative Writing Blog to the Home page
Nov 12, 2013Writing Contests: How to Win More, Spend LessApproach creative writing contests with winning attitude and adequate preparation. Know what editors want in a winning story. Avoid the frustrating experience of rejection and non-responsiveness. Continue reading "Writing Contests: How to Win More, Spend Less" Nov 12, 2013Short Story and Creative Writing Contests and CompetitionsShort Story and other creative writing contests and competitions with big cash prizes like the ones below can provide a real step up for writers. Writing competitions can jumpstart a career. Continue reading "Short Story and Creative Writing Contests and Competitions" Nov 12, 2013Can a short story collection be changed to a novel?Have you ever moved a short story collection to a novel successfully? I have tried for years to publish my story collection and received the same response Continue reading "Can a short story collection be changed to a novel?" Nov 11, 2013Author as PublisherI'm at the tail end of writing my final draft and was looking for a publisher and came across many obstacles. things that first time authors often endure, Sep 15, 2013Mentoring RatesMentoring Rates--services and rates for writing feedback, assessment, and courses Aug 09, 2013The Creative Writing Masters Degree: How Important Is It?A creative writing masters degree is not necessary become a published writer, but as a step toward a successful creative writing career, a creative writing degree can't hurt. Continue reading "The Creative Writing Masters Degree: How Important Is It?" Aug 09, 2013Has the Twitter Novel Tweetered Out?The Twitter novel was an intriguing new form in 2008/2009, but where are the Twitter novels now? Jul 21, 2013Space and Punctuate Dialogue Correctly: Creative Writing Success TipsCreative Writing Success Tips: How to Punctuate Dialogue Correctly. Creative writers: Learn these few rules of punctuation to write dialogue with clarity. Continue reading "Space and Punctuate Dialogue Correctly: Creative Writing Success Tips" May 26, 2013Lee Kvern Wins First Prize in 2012 Hazel Hilles Memorial Short Fiction AwardLee Kvern wins First Prize in 2012 Hazel Hilles Memorial Short Fiction Award Continue reading "Lee Kvern Wins First Prize in 2012 Hazel Hilles Memorial Short Fiction Award" May 06, 2013Pursue your creative writing dreams with creative writing tips, help, and resources from novelist Pearl Luke.creative writing website with creative writing tips and ideas, writing prompts, writing activities, character name generator, and more to help anyone write better. Apr 29, 2013Where to Read Short Stories OnlineRead short stories online. Links to high quality online fiction, the best new literary fiction online offered by the Book Trust, publishers, universities, and quality online journals. Apr 16, 2013681 Cliches to Avoid in Your Creative Writing500 Cliches to avoid in your creative writing. Writing that relies heavily on cliches is considered poor or lazy writing. Editors may reject creative writing on the basis of too many hackneyed words and phrases alone. Continue reading "681 Cliches to Avoid in Your Creative Writing" Apr 16, 2013Creative Writing Quotes.Creative Writing Quotes to inspire Creative Writers. Quotations about writing, words, paragraphs and motivation. Apr 16, 2013Creative Writing ActivitiesOriginal creative writing activities for the classroom or workshop. Apr 16, 2013Sitemap for Be a Better Writer and Pearl Luke.comSitemap for Be a Better Writer and Pearl Luke Continue reading "Sitemap for Be a Better Writer and Pearl Luke.com" Apr 12, 2013Participles: Bothersome VerbsParticiples: When to use them, when to avoid them in your creative writing Mar 19, 2013DEADLINE APRIL 30TH, 2013, Mystery & Mayhem Cozy Awards, Prize: $250http://chantireviews.com/contests/cozy-mystery-novels-writing-contests-mystery-and-mayhem-mm-awards/ Manuscripts (completed) and Published Novels, including Continue reading "DEADLINE APRIL 30TH, 2013, Mystery & Mayhem Cozy Awards, Prize: $250" Dec 25, 2012Creative Writing Degree Programs in Canada and the United StatesCanadian and US Creative Writing Degree Programs Continue reading "Creative Writing Degree Programs in Canada and the United States" Dec 17, 2012Creative Writing Contest Creative writing contest. The Hazel Hilles Memorial Short Fiction Prize is open to anyone writing in English. Deadline September 18,2012 Dec 11, 2012ADVENTURE MEMOIR December 6 BOOK GIVEAWAY at BookClubBuddy.comISLAND BORN by Frank Burnaby is an unforgettable adventure memoir about how the author and his wife stopped their sailing adventure to have their baby on a deserted island! This book would make a great Christmas gift! I am particularly delighted to see ISLAND BORN now available, as I first became aware of it a few years ago when the author asked me to do a manuscript evaluation. I had trouble putting it down and was so impressed with the story that I asked my literary agent if she would take a look at it. She also loved the book, and she offered to represent Frank. I was thrilled for him. But, oddly, the agent was unable to place the book. Publishers liked the story, they said, but they believed it would be difficult to market. The author discusses this in an INTERVIEW about the book and makes their comments available on his website. So I highly recommend this fascinating adventure memoir about how the author and his wife had their first son on a deserted island in the Indian Ocean! About the author: As a youth, Frank Burnaby says he survived his parent’s good intentions when they enrolled him in military school in the seventh grade. There he learned to disassemble and reassemble his rifle with his eyes closed, and to pull weeds for not having a mirror shine on his shoes. He spent his high school years at a boarding school in New Jersey. In 1969, after a stint at San Francisco State University film school, Frank boarded a freighter bound for North Africa. Hitchhiking across Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, he made his way through India and South East Asia, to remote islands in Indonesia by native boat, and finally on to Hong Kong where he taught English. Landing back in New York City he drove a taxi at night, and studied acting at Herbert Berghof Studios. He found work as an actor and was offered the principal part in a travel adventure feature film, but instead of pursuing an acting career he opened a vegetarian taco stand, which thrived on the edge of the meat packing district. Drawn to the sea and his dream of sailing to a tropical wilderness, he took a job as an apprentice shipwright in a Los Angeles marina. Soon after, he set off with his soon-to-be wife, Gayle, to purchase a small vintage sailboat in England. He was 27, and she was 17. The ensuing five year voyage, eastward across the Indian Ocean, and their experience living on an uninhabited island changed his life forever. This is the story, Island Born. To read more about this book and enter the draw, please visit Island Born at BookClubBuddy.com and follow the directions at the bottom of the page. DRAW ENDS midnight December 12, 2012 Continue reading "ADVENTURE MEMOIR December 6 BOOK GIVEAWAY at BookClubBuddy.com" Nov 23, 2012November 22nd BOOK GIVEAWAY at BookClubBuddy.comThe Village of Many Hats is an endearing children's book and would make the perfect stocking stuffer. Written for ages 7 to 10, it will be enjoyed by a wider age group, and will be particularly enjoyable and heartwarming for adults who read with their young ones. I read it on the plane, all the time wishing I were reading it with my grandson, who will love it. The Village of Many Hats is a novella told from the point of view of nine-year-old Gina. She and her family live in Silverado, a mountain village, which used to be prosperous but has now fallen on hard economic times. Gina's sister, Sara, is ill with a heart condition, and the book is about how the village pulls together to assist with this crisis and others, and how they show their kindness to Gina, as well, who suffers not only loneliness and worry, but guilty feelings of being overlooked. In the author's words, "It takes a village to raise a child and to care for families in crisis." It is impossible to read this book without understanding the value of a caring community. It's a thought-provoking read for children and adults! To read more about this book, please visit The Village of Many Hats by Caroline Woodward, at BookClubBuddy.com and follow the directions at the bottom of the page. Continue reading "November 22nd BOOK GIVEAWAY at BookClubBuddy.com" Nov 17, 2012November 15th BOOK GIVEAWAY at BookClubBuddy.comWith Reconciliation, Dorothy Speak's third collection of stories, I feel as if I have discovered this author all over again, with the same degree of guilty pleasure I experienced when reading her novel The Wife Tree (Random House, 2001)--guilty because when I recognize myself in her characters it is often through their flaws, as they act in ways I understand, but wish I did not. The characters in this collection are strong, sometimes selfish, sometimes unkind, but always fascinating. However they act, whatever befalls them, it's easy to admire them because they carry on and persevere. Dorothy Speak writes that she feels most comfortable among friends, because she "believes the only reason to be alive is to connect with others." Reading Reconciliation, one will recognize the compassion and acceptance with which Speak observes those around her. BCB: In addition to writing, what else are you passionate about? Dorothy Speak: Nature, tennis and good films (usually foreign). BCB: What do you think readers would be most surprised to learn about you? Dorothy Speak: That I’m shy. BCB: What’s the best decision you’ve ever made, and why? Dorothy Speak: To leave my government job and become a writer. There is little latitude for independence and creativity in bureaucracy. I am lucky I had the liberty of abandoning a good salary to pursue my true calling. To read more about this book and enter the draw, please visit Reconciliation at BookClubBuddy.com and follow the directions at the bottom of the page until November 20, 2012. Continue reading "November 15th BOOK GIVEAWAY at BookClubBuddy.com" Nov 09, 2012November 8th BOOK GIVEAWAY at BookClubBuddy.comNovember 8th BOOK GIVEAWAY at BookClubBuddy.com INTERSECTING SETS: A Poet Looks at Science by Alice Major. This smart book of essays won the Wilfrid Eggleston Award, and I like what the prize jury said about it: "For the elegance and precision of its language, the encyclopedic reach of its knowledge, and the daring of its thought, this book is a winner. "Every page offers fresh insight and challenging intellectual vistas, yet the text never loses itself in a fog of abstraction. There’s always someone or something – a cat named Pushkin, a bird on a credit card, an old man walking, walking, reciting his poems—to ground the conceptual universe in the sensory world. "Measured against the writer’s intentions and the pleasure it offers to readers, this book is practically perfect." - Jury Comments, Wilfrid Eggleston Award Alice Major has published nine highly praised poetry collections, three of which have been shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award, given annually for best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. In 2009, she won that award for The Office Tower Tales. She has also received the Stephan G. Stephansson Award (for Memory’s Daughter). For Intersecting Sets: A Poet Looks at Science, she has received the Wilfrid Eggleston non-fiction prize by the Writers Guild of Alberta and a National Magazine Award gold medal. She was born in Scotland and grew up in Toronto, before coming west to work on a weekly newspaper in the Cariboo. She arrived in Edmonton in 1981 and has made her home here ever since. During that time she has also contributed extensively to the writing community. as president of the League of Canadian Poets, president of the Writers Guild of Alberta and chair of the Edmonton Arts Council. She has also worked on the boards of local groups like the Stroll of Poets Society and Edmonton’s Litfest. From 2005-2007, she served as first poet laureate for the city of Edmonton. During that time, she wrote poems on subjects from potholes to hockey playoffs and served as an ambassador for her art form, and founded the Edmonton Poetry Festival. In June, 2012 she was inducted in the Edmonton Arts and Culture Hall of Fame. To read more about this book, please visit Intersecting Sets: A Poet Looks at Science at BookClubBuddy.com and follow the directions at the bottom of the page. Continue reading "November 8th BOOK GIVEAWAY at BookClubBuddy.com" |
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