The auto-novel is a fictionalized autobiography. It's a genre that's been around awhile with novels such as: Jack Kerouac's On the Road Aldous Huxley's Eyeless in Gaza Charles Bukowski's Post Office Anaias Nin's published diaries William S. Burroughs' (with Kerouac) And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks Authors mix fact and fiction into a … Continue reading The Auto-Novel
I tried Book Club Mom’s library book selection game! It goes like this: Close your eyes and run your index finger along the book spines on a library shelf. Stop at a random place and pull out the book. Do this three times on different shelves (so you don’t get the same author), then take … Continue reading The Library Book Selection Game
Studying the craft of writing is different than studying math or science. In college (I studied engineering) my classmates and I furiously scribbled down what the prof was writing on the board. Usually it was sample equations, things we’d see again on an exam. Our notes were top to bottom, pretty straight forward. I was … Continue reading How to Study the Craft of Writing
Last year and in the first couple of weeks of 2021 I received encouraging editorial feedback on short fiction (short stories and one novelette). But zero feedback on my haunted house novel. Perhaps, thinks me, I need a bridge between short fiction and novels, something to push my storytelling skills to longer lengths. Hm, whatever … Continue reading Reaching for the Stars, My First Half of 2021 Writing Goals
It’s been a little more than a year since I started this writing blog. Have I learned anything? Yup. Writing a 50k, episodic story is not the same as writing a novel. There are additional things, writerly things, to consider such as character arc and cause-and-effect scene structure and style stuff and grammar thingamabobs. Last … Continue reading 5 Lessons From My First Year
It’s October and time to blog my fourth quarter writing goals . . . because nothing says PRESSURE and ACCOUNTABILITY like announcing to God and the whole world what your goals are. But first, what were the wins and losses for my 3rd quarter goals? 1. Finish another draft of of my WIP Manor House … Continue reading 4th Quarter 2019 Writing Goals
Priscilla Bettis 