Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

Eavesdrop Your Way To Better Dialogue

Ideally, dialogue in fiction is supposed to be a representation of how people actually speak. (Extracting the polite greetings and chitchat and such, unless that chitchat reveals story or character.) So how better to learn the way people actually speak than listen to them conversing with one another?

Before I get arrested as an accessory to violation of privacy, I’m not saying that you should put your ear up to walls (unless something particularly juicy is going on and you stand to make a few bucks selling the story to the tabloids) or hang out outside people’s domiciles with a shotgun mic. I’m talking about a little public eavesdropping. Don’t think you can pull it off without blushing, staring, urinary incontinence, or otherwise giving yourself away? Try some of my favorite Harriet The Spy eavesdropping tips: Continue reading “Eavesdrop Your Way To Better Dialogue”

Promoting With Style

Anne Rice is a master promoter.

I am fascinated by people who move through life confidently promoting themselves and their projects. For this golden few, the prospect of walking into a room full of strangers inspires excitement and endless opportunity. Who wouldn’t want to meet them and talk to them about their latest pet project? These self-promoters exude a joy at networking that seems to be second nature.

For more introverted folk, the prospect of a cocktail party full of strangers has all the attraction of a root canal. This seems to be a common problem for writers, whose brains crave the solitude needed to create and the lack of distraction to focus. Often, the words that flow so easily onto the page trickle in conversation. Don’t fret, my friends, there is hope. Continue reading “Promoting With Style”

Inspiration? Phooey.

Author K.S. Brooks at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics
Author K.S. Brooks at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics

As an author, one of the questions I’m asked quite often is: “where does your inspiration come from?” Frankly, I find that perplexing, even more so when it comes from another writer. I was speaking with a talented graphic artist the other day. She asked me, “don’t you hate it when people want to know where your inspiration comes from? That’s so ridiculous. It would be more appropriate to ask where doesn’t your inspiration come from?”

I’d always dismissed the question: scoffed at it, then indignantly deleted it whenever I saw it come up in writers’ discussion group emails. It wasn’t until this graphic artist rephrased the question to me that I realized that it’s not about being a writer – it’s about being creative. Continue reading “Inspiration? Phooey.”

How my story ends—or doesn’t by Carol Wyer

Author Carol Wyer

Recently, I gave an interview on The Good Health Show with Dr David Friedman. It was a relaxed interview discussing the many ways we should try to accept getting older and appreciate who we are rather than battling the signs with face lifts and botox.

It was a far cry from my first interview at a local BBC Radio Station. I had bombarded the BBC with wild claims about my debut novel and in the end had succeeded in procuring an interview on a popular morning show. I had been invited to talk about NaNoWriMo and had prepared copious notes about the subject. Nervously, I waited for the cue to enter the small room in which sat a male presenter. I could hear the show which was being played through the tannoy system as I waited, my hands shaking, in the waiting room. Nerves kicked in early, after all, I was a writer not an after dinner speaker. Eventually, I was hustled into a darkened room where I discovered I couldn’t see my carefully detailed notes. Needless to say I fluffed the interview. I cringe to this day at the ridiculous answers I came up with. It was farcical. Continue reading “How my story ends—or doesn’t by Carol Wyer“