What elements make for a believable character? What can writers add that aids in the complete and utter suspension of disbelief? Lots of thing come to mind like quirks, back stories, associations, inner thoughts, tribulations - and the list goes on and on. However, something many authors have done with beloved recurring characters is to give them hobbies. Certainly Sherlock Holmes had several and varied 'pursuits'. Agatha Christie had Miss Marple constantly knitting. Let's try rounding out
So it's time to look at something that a lot of us probably never saw! Today we're bringing you a little gem that was published in one of GA's old newsletters. Have you offered to edit for someone and receive the first chapter only to realize that you have no clue where to start? If so, this editing tip could be very beneficial to you! Even if you don't currently edit, it's still a helpful tidbit full of good advice!
Editing Tips...Getting Started
Volume 2: Edition 1 October 2006
FRIDAY!!! Not only the end of the work week for many, it's also the day that we get to see new prompts that might stretch our creative muscles. As always, we thank ComicFan for these two new prompts:
Prompt 134 – Creative Cue – Word list Use the following words in a story: Gravesite, balloons, pregnant woman, cold cereal, and an old book.
Prompt 135 – Creative Cue – The Legacy There is a child in every generation chosen to inherit the family legacy. It is no easy task and while the rewar
We asked for tips - and you responded! Here is K.C.'s tip on Life in the Fishbowl! Do you have one that we can feature? If so, let Renee Stevens or myself know.
Life in the Fishbowl
by
K.C.
As I swim around Gay Authors, I see a wide range of different users here. Those who write put a great deal of time, effort and themselves into bringing amazing and entertaining stories to the GA community. Those who read have the opportunity to talk to the writers, to comment on th
Looking for something new to read but not sure what to try? These reviews may be just what you're looking for. We have a review of our Promising Author Jack Frost's The Comfort of a Blanket.
The Comfort of a Blanket
by
Jack Frost
Reviewer: Cia Status: Complete Word Count: 7,217
What can I say about Jack’s writing? A fake Canadian, lol, Jack has immersed himself many times over in the culture he adopted. That holds especially true in his anthology story, The Comfort of
For Tip Tuesday we are bringing you another interesting little tid bit that is brought to you by Cia. Enjoy and we'd love to hear your thoughts.
Pleonasm
More weird writing terminology
So here's another weird word to describe a common writing mistake. A 'pleonasm' is a phrase where redundant words are used to express the meaning of the sentence. Like... a free gift. A gift is always free, because it is given to you. So obviously the use of the word 'free' is redundant but so co
Well, we're at the start of another week and this week we are going to look at a story written by Bill W called "Butterflies Fly Free". If you like what you read in the review, why not go check out the story and leave the author a review!
Butterflies Fly Free
by
Bill W
Reviewer: K.C. Status: Complete Word Count: 68,492
When I first stumbled across GA’S Hosted Author Bill W’s story, “Butterflied Fly Free,” I didn’t know if I would be able to continue reading it. Glancing
First - we're proud to announce our newest anthology is up - the "Cracks of Time" Poetry anthology. Check it out and let the authors know how you feel about their works by writing a review for them!
Speaking of time cracks - these past two weeks have been a bit disjointed for the news blog. We started off on a great footing with a review by Houdinii of Luc's Angst Poetry collection. Then that evening, we all had a bit of angst over the hack of GA - thankfully, Myr was able to rush home and
For today's Blast from the Past we are bringing you an Anthology entry from 2007 written by Graeme called "When the Cat's Away." Why not take a minute and go check out this Anthology piece as well as many of the many other early Anthologies! If you are interested in reviewing a pre-2009 Anthology story, then please contact Renee or Trebs!
“When the Cat’s Away”
by
Graeme
Reviewer: K.C. Anthology: Fall 2007~ The Rainy Day
In this short story, our previous Anthology Coord
Even though we paused our news blog last week, the prompts continued on schedule. So *that* means - we have FOUR prompts to showcase today. As usual, ComicFan is our source of all of this wonderful promptyness...
Prompt 130 – Creative Cue – The Call You have lived your whole life in the same town, however with each passing year you have felt a desire to move. Always you head in the same direction. Now you are legally an adult and the money you have saved manically for the past few years is g
Interesting characters are usually one of the most important elements of good writing. That's why this great tip by CassieQ is a welcome addition to our GA News Blog. If you have a great tip that you'd like to share with the community, let me or Renee Stevens know.
Character Building
by
CassieQ
To be 100% honest, writing about characters was hard. Characterization is something that always seemed to flow naturally, so trying to take it apart and explain the mechanics o
What day is it today? Oh yeah, it's Wednesday, which can only mean it's time to showcase two more Authors! Today we have a review of "The House Always Wins" by Promising Author: Andr0gene as well as a review of "Blizzard" by Admin & Author: JSmith! Enjoy!!!
The House Always Wins
By
Andr0gene
Reviewer: Renee Stevens Status: Complete Word Count: 51,936
Before I became a beta reader for Andr0gene, I first read his story The House Always Wins. While I have read all of his s
Brainstorming Past Your Block
Especially when writing a short story, there will often come a time in your plot when you get stuck. One of the best ways to move past a block in the action is to brainstorm what could happen. Then... pick one! Often when I'm trying to figure out the loose overall plot I will do a 'this happens, then that, then this' in a timeline fashion. Sometimes I can't figure out what I want to have happen next and that's when I start brainstorming. I'll do this on my
After a brief lull, we return to our regularly scheduled daily GA News blog, with this review of Gabriel Morgan's Stonegate Stables.
Stonegate Stables
By
Gabriel Morgan
Reviewed By: Renee Stevens Status: Complete Word Count: 230,697
I first started reading ’52 Panhead by Gabriel Morgan on another site. Since it wasn’t finished yet, I went searching for any site that might have more of the story. Instead of more of that story, I found Gabriel on Gay Authors and immediat
Poetry is one of those things I think are in the eye of the beholder. The impact a poem bestows on the reader is only as great as the answering emotion it awakens. When Houdinii offered to do a Hosted Review, I was surprised and pleased when he offered to review Luc's poetry. I thought his review was as honest as he found the poetry; I hope you will enjoy both!
Poetry Collection: Angst
By Luc
Review by Houdinii
Marzipan once told me that I, Houdinii, may be great at
It is with GREAT pleasure, that I announce our newest Hosted Author - Baby Q's dad! (erm - I guess he also goes by Quonus10). I am personally a big fan of his work, especially Second Shot and The Trial of Jordan Colmar - if you haven't read his stuff yet, I encourage you to give it a try.
Also, a big last minute reminder that entries for the Poetry Anthology need to be to Lugh by April 17 - that's just two days from now.
So, we've had a pretty good week, starting with a review of Duncan
So - glancing over some of the past newsletters, I found this gem from Feb 2007, about editing from a writer's perspective. I hope you enjoy!
Editors and Writers
The Editing Process: From the Writer’s Point of View
By Talon Rider
Finding an editor can be a problem sometimes. You think to yourself, where can I find someone? Do I ask another author who they use? Do I post something in a forum somewhere? Has an editor made their presence known? Either one of those methods may
Today we bring you two new prompts from Comicfan. While they both look like they're going to be interesting, I think "The Sexes" is going to provide quite the challenge! Enjoy!
Prompt 128 – Creative Cue – Word List Use the following words in a story: fog, bus, newspaper, coffee roll, and toilet paper.
Prompt 129 – Creative Cue – The Sexes Science has always said that there would be new species added as time went on and as Mother Nature needed change. What wasn’t expected was that the hum
Synonyms
In writing, especially when doing character pieces, you need to watch for repetition. The words used when writing can give clues to accurately express how the character appears or acts depending on what synonym is used. Physical cues are very important when it comes to showing and not telling. However, using the same word repeatedly is boring. Below are a few common actions and examples of synonyms you can use to highlight them in different ways.
Expression: noun-outward ap
Well, it's Wednesday again, and you know what that means! Is everyone ready for their weekly dose of "Author Showcase"? Today we bring you a story by Promising Author: JWolf titled "Nowhere Man". Also, we are bringing you a story by a bit of a newer author here at GA, Author: Percy and his story "The Waltz".
Nowhere Man
by
JWolf
Reviewer: LouisHarris Status: Complete Word Count: 44,350
JWolf understands the edge. And, in this short thriller, he doesn’t waste words. Ever
Today's Tip is brought to you by our prompt guru, Comicfan. Thank you for this wonderful little lesson on setting the scene for a story! If YOU have a tip for a future blog entry, let Trebs or Renee Stevens know!
The Scene
by
Comicfan
Ever notice how important a scene is? I don’t mean the action; I mean that place it is located in. Sometimes it can add to the overall sense of what is happening or it can make it a tragedy. It isn’t very hard to have a story go wrong by the
Duncan Ryder is one of our Hosted Authors that writes in a very touching and true fashion. Two of his stories, Everybody's Wounded and its sequel, How the Light Gets In show very realistic young men, struggling through life and struggling to connect both with others, as well as with themselves.
CarringtonRJ has done a great review of How The Light Gets In - but I strongly recommend reading Everybody's Wounded first for the full experience of how each person has gotten to the place they are w
Before we review the past week, I want to point out that the deadline for the Poetry Anthology is just NINE days away. If you are planning on submitting a poem (and I hope you do), it needs to be sent Lugh by April 17.
Our week started as always with a Hosted Author review - and this week, Roan wrote a review of Renee Stevens' Eternity. This is a story that I loved when I first read, and Roan's review is a great reminder of what a gem Eternity is.
Our tips this week were both very usefu
Today we're going to revisit another Anthology Entry from some of the earlier anthologies. So from the 2007 Spring Anthology: Fairy Tales, here is the review for:
Time to Grow Up
by
Jack Scribe
Reviewer: K.C. Status: Complete Word Count: 8,584
“Time To Grow Up” 2007 Anthology piece by Jack Scribe is a modern twist on a timeless fairytale of Peter Pan. The character of Peter Pan has delighted children and adults alike for more than a hundred years. Peter’s carefree l
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Everybody is undefeated at the start of the season. Whether the fan's cheery optimism is justified gets sorted out by playing the games.
Except for Cleveland fans. They are cursed to suffer.
I could spend a goodly amount of time on this one, but won't. I chose to focus instead on his last quote for the word of the day.
Pathological Liars, Psychopaths & Natural Liars - Differences
I am going to suggest a test that each you may try and is impossible to cheat at????
You would only be fibbing to yourself.
The Test!
This is a three part(3), times test. Close your eyes and say one of the types, whose face or what faces come to mind.
Do thi
The following covers how Pathological is generally used:
adjective: of or relating to the practice of pathology
adjective: caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition
adjective: caused by or altered by or manifesting disease or pathology
Pathological is regularly used in common speech and writing, especially with the second meaning, but it is not used in diagnosis (apart from "pathological fract
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