IMAGES and ICONS by Melodie Johnson Howe I sit down to write this with the full knowledge that a man in a cowboy hat is going to represent my image. Okay I can handle this. I’ve had a long run on my looks. And I have to admit that Leigh looks more like a writer […]

THE WRITER’s COOKBOOK (Part 1 of 4) by James Lincoln Warren I am on vacation for the next three Mondays, so during my absence I am offering The Writer’s Cookbook, which originally appeared in an earlier incarnation of The Scribbler and got lots of requests for permission to reproduce–although why anybody would ask me for […]

WHEN GOOD CHARACTERS GO BAD by Leigh Lundin How inconsiderate for a writer to die while leaving protagonists alive and struggling! Rob Lopresti recently pointed out two annoyances when an author passes away but characters hobble on: (1) Unresolved character and story line issues and (2) attempts by others to recreate characters with varying degrees […]

Last week, Eddy discussed the proper length, emotional effect, literary tone, and emphasis by enforced repetition he intended to convey in his poem “The Raven”. This week, he explains how these considerations determined the form of the poem, especially its climax. THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMPOSITION (part 3 of 4) by Edgar A. Poe These points […]

ANOTHER NASRUDIN STORY by Steven Steinbock After posting my column of June 29, in which I retold the story of the Mulla Nasrudin keeping dry in a rainstorm, I was told by Joel Ben Izzy, professional storyteller and author of The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness, that it’s a tradition to always tell […]

UNEXPECTED COMPANY by Deborah Elliott-Upton Depending on who it is, unexpected company may not always be a bad thing. In Chapter Seven of Only If It Rains (my unpublished-at-the-moment mystery novel), a character slated to be Victim # 4 unexpectedly became too important to kill. The comic relief necessary to offset the tension, Mike Bailey […]

DO THEY REST IN PEACE? by Robert Lopresti I was just reading the MWA Annual, the quasi-yearbook that the Mystery Writers of America distributes to everyone who attends the Edgar Banquet, and then sends out to those of us stragglers and cheapskates who can’t quite make it to New York for the feast. As usual, […]