Featured Submission
Doctor Who and Who Else?
Dialogue has two overarching functions in fiction and nonfiction: reveal character and advance the plot.
In movie and TV fiction, there has seldom been a truly lone hero. If he were alone, who would he talk to?
Hot Off The Press
This is the most recent activity here at The Cuckleburr Times. Submit an article and your work could be highlighted here too!
Featured Submission
Six Classic Elements of a Best Selling Novel
Late in the nineteenth century, painters such as van Gogh, Cézanne and Seurat looked back to the Old Masters of the seventeenth century-geniuses like Rembrandt and Poussin-for techniques that would add richness to their work.
Why do today’s fiction writers so seldom do something similar to help in writing a novel: look back to the Old [...]
Featured Submission
Leaving Houston…
“What a strange place for a hearse,” I think,
Sitting there on the tarmac with its back door open.
A shiny, gray casket is slid onto a wheeled bier
The handlers slow and deliberate in their movements.
It dawns on me that someone is making a last trip home
As they slowly move under the belly of the aircraft.
A final thud and the last compartment is closed.
Featured Articles
Using Storytelling As a Tool to Change Your Life
The American poet and political activist Muriel Rukeyser said "The universe is made of stories, not atoms." Ursula K. LeGuin ...
Horror Fiction - Ten Cliches to Avoid
For anyone thinking about writing in the horror genre, there are certain situations that, over the years, have been done ...
How to Design Your Book to Grow Your Business (and Your Income)
Many savvy business owners know that a book can be the ultimate marketing tool. Writing a book on a topic ...
Top 3 Creative Sinkholes
In my conversations with artists, actors, writers, singers and musicians I've noticed a pattern of three 'sinkholes' that suck the ...
Hook Your Reader With the Very First Sentence
Recently, Lev Grossman, the book critic at Time magazine, made some predictions about publishing. Among his predictions about the novel ...
Experience and Nonsense - Good Writing Sounds Like People Talking
The other day, I had a Convenience Store Experience. I didn't start the day with the goal of having a Convenience ...
Squinting in the Moonlight
Do you squint in the moonlight because it's too bright? Neither do I. And neither does anyone else, except for ...
11 Offline Ways to Advertise Your Web Site
When many people begin marketing on the internet, they are unaware of all the possible ways of getting their website ...
Writers Knowledge Base
Succeeding As a Writer - Confidence and Determination When I’ve written something, and the words have just flowed, I sometimes feel like I’m looking down on the Seventh Day, basking in the warmth of my creation and proclaiming, It Is Good. I’ll feel like I’ve captured the emotion and the angst; or the flavor, color, and texture of the world I envisioned. The characters will be as real as Real People to me.
Life As We Know It
Memoirs, Movies and Those (Mostly) True Stories: A Writer’s Take on Reality’s Rough Edges Why do they do it? Why do so many film makers put “based on a true story” or some variation as one of their opening frames, when they have freely altered the truth of the story? Because it works.
Writing and Writers
Author Interview: Susan Wingate A Conversation with Susan Wingate, Author of “Bobby’s Diner” (Finalist in the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Cambridge Books, 2009).
The Funny Side
Have You Ever Worked in Retail? Working a part time job in retail has become a necessity for me. It seems being glib and trying to make people laugh on the internet is about as lucrative as being a lifeguard in the Sahara Desert. For those who have ever worked, or are currently working, a retail job, you will probably agree that after dealing with the public, you seem to gain a new perspective of human nature.
Reflections
Homes Still Cost Too Much You would think with home prices still dropping like hailstones in most areas, that homes would be bargains. The present buyer’s market obscures a key fact about the housing crisis though: millions sought the refuge of cheap credit, subprime and adjustable loans during the boom because they were the easiest routes to homeownership in a time when house prices far outpaced income growth.
Writing Techniques and Tips
“None of these” is plural Grammarians, grammar geeks, linguists, and editors need a little excitement now and then. We need something to fight about. After all, we’re preserving the civilized world by helping people understand one another, right? One favorite argument is the use of the word “none.” Specifically, is “none” singular or plural? Does it require a singular or plural verb?
Inner Bonding
Relationships: The Art of Listening In 1975 Dr. Thomas Gordon wrote a best-selling book called “Parent Effectiveness Training.” In the book he taught parents to “active listen,” which means to reflect back to the speaker the feelings and information they are trying to convey. Mirroring, or active listening, is a powerful tool, but whether or not it works depends upon your intent.
The Bookshelf
Book Review: The Compass by Tammy Kling and John Spencer Ellis This book is a soul stirring narrative of one man’s journey into the depths of self discovery. Following a terrible accident involving Johnathan’s wife and young daughter, he can no longer stand the life he finds himself living. Johnathan simply walks away from it all one day and travels amongst unfamiliar lands and people.
Editor's Choice
How to Improve Your Writing by Standing on Your Head Journalists not only write superbly well, they do so extremely rapidly. Learning how they work their “daily miracles” can help you write better at your more leisurely pace.
