Comments on: Retyping the Speckled Band, Part 1 - Beginning with Style

By: 6 Pieces of Fiction Writing Advice Often Ignored : Spontaneous Derivation

6 Pieces of Fiction Writing Advice Often Ignored : Spontaneous Derivation — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:16:07 +0000

[...] I’m doing that with The Speckled Band, in case you want to see what happens to your head while you’re retyping and thinking. The [...]

By: A Personal Discovery of Authority : Spontaneous Derivation

A Personal Discovery of Authority : Spontaneous Derivation — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:13:46 +0000

[...] So what could I give to my potential readers? I tried to write about what I learned from books about writing. But without that professional connection, my advice was simply repetition. Sometimes I was able to dress it up by using an unusual metaphor I hadn’t seen before—like beginnings as literal seeds. Sometimes I could use a bit of humorous insight, like debunking what inexperienced writers think about writing. And I could definitely take a story apart and pick it to pieces. [...]

By: Blogging for Writers: Bring Focus to Your Blog by Discovering the Your Inner Authority : Spontaneous Derivation

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:43:00 +0000

[...] I tried to write about what I learned from books about writing. But without that professional connection, my advice was simply repetition. Sometimes I was able to dress it up by using an unusual metaphor I hadn’t seen before—like beginnings as literal seeds. Sometimes I could use a bit of humorous insight, like debunking what inexperienced writers think about writing. And I could definitely take a story apart and pick it to pieces. [...]

By: Arachne Jericho

Arachne Jericho — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:21:14 +0000

Hi, Amanda!

Always glad to meet a fellow Holmesian. :) This site should be more active in March, once I get finished with a short story I’m writing.

(It’s not a mystery. It has a Holmes-like character in it, though. And many things blow up. Subtle. That’s not me this February. :))

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:41:28 +0000

I’m loving this! A fan of Sherlock as a child,
I have been using the Granada as a creative outlet of late-with video.
I feel like giving mystery writing a stab- finding this fascinating…
off to read about “information dumps”

By: Arachne Jericho

Arachne Jericho — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 04:36:22 +0000

Hello, Unfocused–thanks for stopping by!

I totally hear you about the need to write Something Creative after years of, say, technical specifications (on my part).

I suggest visiting “Learn Writing with Uncle Jim” over on Absolute Write. It’s a very long thread (and I do mean long) but filled with great writing advice and exercises. There’s an index to Uncle Jim’s thread now, too, which makes it much easier to read through.

Good luck on your fiction!

By: Unfocused Me

Unfocused Me — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 04:07:02 +0000

Arachne -

I just came across your blog tonight through a link from Outpost Mavarin (last week’s Weekend Assignment), and I’ve been enjoying your recent posts. I made a decision in November that in 2008 I would come back to fiction writing after 15 years off, because I needed to write something other than briefs and fuck-you letters (yes, I’m a lawyer by day, and often by night). Thanks for passing on the idea about retyping the first chapter of a published novel as a way to understand the techniques of good writing. I’m going to have to give that a try.