Thursday, April 16, 2015

Guest Post: 3 Reasons to Stop Relying on How-To Lists for information(and What to Do Instead)!

Grateful to the amazing folks over at PROBLOGGER for publishing my guest post about lists. “List posts” are wildly popular across many domains but in particular within the literary milieu and—as I point out in the article—do in fact harbor some utility. It is simply within the context of how over-reliant folks can become on lists that my post takes aim, and it is a piece ultimately somewhat tongue-in-cheek: a list of reasons to forsake lists.

 

I hope you enjoy (if not then perhaps dispatch me your list of reasons whyJ), and as always, feedback is welcomed.

 

Cheers!

Friday, April 3, 2015

On Giddiness, Nerdom, Truth & Fiction

Giddy like a schoolboy(are they giddy?—I don’t really recall) at prospect of seeing one of my favorite scribes, Erik Larson, discuss his latest book Dead Wake, here in St. Louis April 9th. Last year I was privileged to publish a piece on CS Lakin’s wonderful website about how great nonfiction can really impact fiction writing, and I used examples from one of Larson’s other works in the article.

It may be just another manifestation of my nerdom, but I think about these things a lot…how different genres, writing styles interplay…about the different elements of and approaches to writing. How much or how little detail to use. I’ve even drafted a fiction novel from the viewpoint of a fictitious narrator as though he had researched a mysterious story and recreated it nonfiction style for the reader(hope sooner than later to share more about that one).

Anyway, what are your thoughts, as writers and/or readers: do you prefer fiction or nonfiction? Favorite authors for each? Do you agree the genres may positively influence one another, or not so much? I’d really welcome your thoughts.


As always, be well and happy reading and writing!