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Links to Bishop's works
Writing Tip by Leonard Bishop
A good story is like a motorcycle. All the parts move together and move forward. (7-8-99)
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Author Archives: Multiple Viewpoints
Write Like a Painter!
From Leonard Bishop, Author of Dare To Be A Great Writer Great writers…as they write, books get shorter, but the plot isn’t shorter. Like a painter, full detail is brought to the minimum. Paint that which is exact. (4/13/95)
Posted in teaching, Writer's Hint, Writing Techniques
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You Can’t Always Get What You Want
By Leonard Bishop Have I been cursed by moving to Kansas –or blessed? Last year I had decided to stop writing “artistic” novels that penetrate the core of life and peel naked the soul; I wanted to … Continue reading
Writing Hint: Use Adventure!
From Leonard Bishop, Author of Dare To Be A Great Writer To keep a novel alive, use adventure. Have a highly credible character that performs highly incredible things. (8/26/98)
When You Know You’ve Finally Made It
By Leonard Bishop, Author of Dare To Be A Great Writer I dislike “name droppers” unless it’s my name they’re dropping. Early in my career as a writer I achieved that status. Everyone, in any profession, wants his/her name … Continue reading
Posted in humor, slice of life, Writing
Tagged American Novelist, American writers, Beat Writers, best American novelists, Catch 22, Dare to Be A Great Writer, Erskine Caldwell, Frank Yerby, George Mandel, Henry Cabot Lodge, James Michener, Joseph Heller, Marc Chagall, Mario Puzo, name-dropping, Norman Mailer, Utrillo, William Faulkner, writing inspiration
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Writer’s Hint: Keeping the Readers Interested
From Leonard Bishop, Author of Dare To Be a Great Writer A reader’s interest is captured by what you tell them, not by what you promise to tell them. (11/5/98)
Writer’s Hint: How to Survive While Waiting to be A Professional Writer
From Leonard Bishop, Author of Dare to Be a Great Writer If you feel like a failure, go back into your past and find a time of accomplishment for something you once thought impossible. Change the “inner editor” (Instead of … Continue reading
Need A Plot? Experts Recycle Them
By Leonard Bishop, Author of Dare To Be A Great Writer There are three reference books that all unpublished (and many already published) writers must own: One Hundred Non-Royalty One-Act Plays (Grosset and Dunlap), 101 of the World’s Greatest … Continue reading
Posted in humor, publishing, teaching, Writing, Writing Techniques
Tagged American Novelist, American writers, best American novelists, Dare to Be A Great Writer, dramatic scenes, history of American fiction, inventing plot, inventiveness, Leonard Bishop, Plot, taking risks in writing, using existing plots, writing inspiration, writing technique
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Writer’s Hint: Theatricality and Drama
From Leonard Bishop, Author of Dare to Be a Great Writer Theatricality is visual, unusual, and gets the reader’s attention. Drama holds the reader in an emotional strata. That’s what the readers are engaged in. (10-13-94) ©by Leonard Bishop
Writer’s Hint: Characterization
From Leonard Bishop, Author of Dare to be a Great Writer: Readers want extravagant forms of behavior. This makes them [The characters] larger than life. (6-21-96) ©by Leonard Bishop
Closet Writers Usually Turn To Dust
By Leonard Bishop There is a reason why many writers do not remain in the small towns of Kansas to achieve their recognition. There are no writing environments to keep them. A “writing environment” is a place where inexperienced … Continue reading
Posted in publishing, Writing, writing group, Writing Techniques
Tagged American Novelist, American writers, Catch 22, Crazy in Beroin, Dare to Be A Great Writer, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Hemmingway, Henry Miller, history of American fiction, Jack Kerouac, Joseph Heller, Lie Down In Darkness, Mario Puzo, Nathaniel West, Norman Mailer, Scott Fitzgerald, taking risks in writing, teaching writing, Thomas Berger, William Styron, writing inspiration
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