Book Review: Letters from the Field–Part I

Margaret Meade was born in 1901, a time when a woman’s place wasn’t doing field research in island jungles. That didn’t matter to her a wit when she went to Samoa at the age of twenty-three to study the life of the residents. Turned out, she had an excellent eye for decoding what she saw. … Continue reading →

8 Tips for Creative Nonfiction Writers

‘Creative non-fiction’ is defined by Lee Gutkind–founder of Creative Non-fiction Magazine–as “true stories well told.” The words “creative” and “nonfiction” describe the form. The word “creative” refers to the use of literary craft, the techniques fiction writers, playwrights, and poets employ to present nonfiction—factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid, dramatic … Continue reading →

How to Write Descriptions People Want to Read: an African Landscape

How do you communicate to Western world readers the uncivilized, nature-controlled land that is Africa. If your story includes an African setting, you must get that untamed, mysterious feel across or you lose credibility. Here are a few books you can read that will drench you in the scents and colors of Africa: In the … Continue reading →

What is a ‘Hacker’

I mean from a writer’s perspective. If you had a character who was a hacker (or a cracker), how would you make him convincing. To be  believable, you have to enter their mindset. Here are some ideas I’ve gotten from my computer friends and The New Hacker’s Dictionary: Though it’s a common stereotype that programmers … Continue reading →

5 Reasons I love Research

When I write, I have no control over when I will need to research and when I’ll write-write-write. And if I need to search for detail, there’s no telling how long it’ll take. I’ve been known to spend a week–ten days–uncovering the information my story requires. I don’t know what it is until I find … Continue reading →

My Character is Sick–How to Show (Not Tell) Illness

Fiction writing is about communicating as much as possible within the story line. Every writing class you take will exhort you to show not tell. As Samuel Clemens said, “Don’t tell us that the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.” You will often have your characters become sick in the novel. … Continue reading →

Book Review: A Virtual Tour of Africa

National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife by National Audubon Society My rating: 4 of 5 stars I purchased this book because several settings in my most recent novel take place in East Africa. A trip there wasn’t in the cards for me, so I had to make do with a variety of virtual … Continue reading →

178 Ways to Describe Women’s Clothing

There are so many terms for women’s clothing, they boggle the mind–dolmen sleeves, pencil skirt, choker, colorblock. The best conjure up colorful images that share with a few words a glorious picture that sticks in your mind as the character walks through the scene. Unfortunately, they don’t always come to mind as you’re writing. Not … Continue reading →

2012 in review

WP did a great job summarizing my stats for this year. Allow me to share them with you: The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt:  Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe! Click here to see the complete report. Follow me Jacqui … Continue reading →

9 Reasons Why Readers Stop Reading

I rarely stop reading a book once I’ve started. Once I’ve committed, I hate to think I’ve wasted the time already spent and, anyway, the story surely will improve or it wouldn’t have been published. There are nine reasons why I do stop, though. Characters aren’t likable. Plot develops too slowly Plot is too complicated. … Continue reading →