Just to set the record straight—most of you probably know what romance is, and if you don’t know anything about finance, you’re in trouble— but pissants sounds so terrible, that even my voice recognition software wants to call it, “puissance.” But it has nothing to do with ants, usually, unless you are at a picnic where they are attending. The word, “pissants” is actually considered vulgar (but when did that ever stop anyone?). Pissants means a person place or thing that is insignificant or of no consequence or… Continue reading →
Tag Archives: James Scott Bell
#2 IN HISTORICAL FICTION—THE STORY!
2. THE STORY What do all of these have in common: Alison Weir, Anne Perry, Ann Woodward, Laura Joh Rowland, Stephen Saylor, Elizabeth Peters, Mary Renault, the early Jean Auel, Philippa Gregory, James Melville and Diana Gabaldon? THE STORY. Amazing plot-driven, character-driven, conflict-driven, history-driven, stories. The STORY is what draws me into historical fiction and the historical background is what keeps me there. IF the history is accurate (See my previous post) i.e. no anachronisms, or egregious errors. I was reading a… Continue reading →
THE ENDS AND THE MEANS
THE ENDS AND THE MEANS There are hundreds of books, thousands of books on how to write. And many of them are important. But if we pay attention to details ONLY we can lose. (As e. e. cummings says, “he who pays attention to the syntax of things, will never wholly kiss you.”) In one of my critique groups, when we get a new piece of writing to evaluate, if it is, for lack of a better word, “good,” we get into the writing and… Continue reading →