Forum Discussions - John Dean Crime Novelist2024-03-28T08:21:28Zhttps://johndean.ning.com/forum?feed=yes&xn_auth=noManuscript assessmentstag:johndean.ning.com,2021-02-23:6360756:Topic:423572021-02-23T18:44:57.536ZJohn Deanhttps://johndean.ning.com/profile/3aj9agicj2wxq
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9983948664?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9983948664?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
<p>Are you an aspiring crime writer who is keen to develop your craft? Then perhaps I can help. I work with my daughter Laura, a skilled editor and manuscript assessor, to provide manuscript assessments.</p>
<p>Should you be interested in finding out more, then feel free to drop me a line at deangriss@btinternet.com and we can discuss your…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9983948664?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9983948664?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Are you an aspiring crime writer who is keen to develop your craft? Then perhaps I can help. I work with my daughter Laura, a skilled editor and manuscript assessor, to provide manuscript assessments.</p>
<p>Should you be interested in finding out more, then feel free to drop me a line at deangriss@btinternet.com and we can discuss your needs</p>
<p>.</p> Mentoring programmes and online writing coursestag:johndean.ning.com,2020-02-07:6360756:Topic:200072020-02-07T10:01:41.345ZJohn Deanhttps://johndean.ning.com/profile/3aj9agicj2wxq
<p>Novelist John Dean is offering online courses for writing groups who may be struggling to meet in person during the current coronavirus restrictions.</p>
<p>Crime writer John, who is based in Dumfries and Galloway and has been a creative writing tutor for twenty years, will run courses that can be tailored to each writing group’s needs and can take in a variety of genres.</p>
<p>The course, which runs in eight parts and can begin at a time and date to suit the group, will help writers to…</p>
<p>Novelist John Dean is offering online courses for writing groups who may be struggling to meet in person during the current coronavirus restrictions.</p>
<p>Crime writer John, who is based in Dumfries and Galloway and has been a creative writing tutor for twenty years, will run courses that can be tailored to each writing group’s needs and can take in a variety of genres.</p>
<p>The course, which runs in eight parts and can begin at a time and date to suit the group, will help writers to improve their technique and improve their chances of being successful, either in competitions or admissions to publishers.</p>
<p>When they enrol, groups will be set exercises and offered ongoing feedback, primarily in prose formats such as short stories and novels.</p>
<p>John is a member of the UK-based Crime Writers’ Association, has had 19 novels published and is with London-based publisher The Book Folks. His novels regularly appear on the Amazon best-seller lists.</p>
<p>He said: “A lot of writers are telling me that they are struggling to find their motivation the longer that the lockdown restrictions continue and I hope that my course will help to spark some creativity.</p>
<p>“Hopefully, I can also help aspiring writers to develop their craft and, because the course is online, it does not matter where they live. In recent years, I have worked with writers living everywhere from Croatia to Australia and New Zealand as well as across the UK.”</p>
<p>There is no official certificate of qualification at the end of the course, which will be conducted via email and costs £30 a person for groups (minimum of four people) or £45 for individuals.</p>
<p>For further details, you can contact John at <a href="mailto:deangriss@btinternet.com">deangriss@btinternet.com</a> or ring 07889 554931. You can find out more about John’s writing at his website <a href="http://www.johdean.ning.com">www.johdean.ning.com</a></p> Libraries Championstag:johndean.ning.com,2018-09-12:6360756:Topic:155612018-09-12T10:48:12.758ZJohn Deanhttps://johndean.ning.com/profile/3aj9agicj2wxq
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10511837870?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10511837870?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a> John Dean is one of three UK Libraries Champions appointed by The Crime Writers’ Association.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Key elements of the role…</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10511837870?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10511837870?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a>John Dean is one of three UK Libraries Champions appointed by The Crime Writers’ Association.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Key elements of the role include linking libraries who want crime writers as speakers with the CWA’s local chapter convenors; encouraging libraries to spread the word about the Crime Readers’ Association; supporting libraries under threat via social media where appropriate, while remaining apolitical; seeking further ways to build closer links for the good of libraries and CWA members and including independent libraries in our efforts wherever appropriate.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"><font size="3">John can be contacted on 07889 554931 or at deangriss@btinternet.com</font></span></p> Blizzard seriestag:johndean.ning.com,2018-08-08:6360756:Topic:153312018-08-08T00:08:10.573ZDeborah Kabackhttps://johndean.ning.com/profile/DeborahKaback
I have read a number of the Blizzard series on Kindle—Strange Littke Girl,The Railway Man, The Secrets Man and The Long Dead. Got The Latch Man from a third party seller on Amazon. Are there others in the series?
I have read a number of the Blizzard series on Kindle—Strange Littke Girl,The Railway Man, The Secrets Man and The Long Dead. Got The Latch Man from a third party seller on Amazon. Are there others in the series? Creating something specialtag:johndean.ning.com,2018-03-16:6360756:Topic:142162018-03-16T14:39:02.551ZJohn Deanhttps://johndean.ning.com/profile/3aj9agicj2wxq
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">For me, there are plenty of examples of stories which are well written - well-crafted and technically competent. Often, they are very, very good indeed.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">But they do not always enjoy success, be it winning competitions or catching the eye of publishers. Why?…</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">For me, there are plenty of examples of stories which are well written - well-crafted and technically competent. Often, they are very, very good indeed.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">But they do not always enjoy success, be it winning competitions or catching the eye of publishers. Why?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">I suspect the reason is that they do not have that extra something, that something that makes the story truly live.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Whether it be the description of a place that makes you shiver because you feel the chill air coming off the hills, or a portrayal of a character so real they could easily walk in through the door and you would not be surprised, these are stories that have something extra.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Or it might be a new idea, or a twist on an old idea, that starts you thinking, or something that gets you wanting to shout for joy or roar with anger.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Whatever it is, it these are the somethings that take a story from the OK to really good. The somethings that mean that you simply cannot get the story out of your mind.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Years ago, I presided over the judging panel for short story competition. At the end, the judges picked a superb winner, one that would stand toe to toe with the very best writing around. It was different, quirky, heart-rending, powerful, evocative, inventive, mesmerising - I could go on.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">In agreeing their citation, the panel said they wanted to say that there was a lot of ‘competent’ writing out there. It felt like damning the other writers taking part with faint praise but the judges were absolutely right.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">There was a lot of stories that were OK, but there were a few that were better than that and one that was absolutely superb. It stood out above all the others and still nestles in a corner of my brain, remembered and admired</span><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Bookman Old Style',serif; font-size: 11pt;">.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Bookman Old Style',serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p> Creating intriguetag:johndean.ning.com,2018-03-16:6360756:Topic:143152018-03-16T14:36:02.233ZJohn Deanhttps://johndean.ning.com/profile/3aj9agicj2wxq
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Good short stories and novels are often written by writers that have a keen understanding of the need to intrigue the reader by creating tension.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Intrigue works in various ways and it is an important tool if your reader is going to stick with your work.…</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Good short stories and novels are often written by writers that have a keen understanding of the need to intrigue the reader by creating tension.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Intrigue works in various ways and it is an important tool if your reader is going to stick with your work.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">One way of creating intrigue is something in your early lines, something that makes you sit up and want to read more. It is called The Question and it lifts the start of a story into something special. Catching the reader’s attention is crucial and a good early question does the job beautifully.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">But there is another, more subtle way, and done right it can be very effective. But, for the writer, it comes with a gamble.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">The idea is that, in the middle of ‘straightforward’ narrative, you drop in something, sometimes just a line, sometimes just a word, but something that nags away at the reader. Maybe they missed it first time around then go back to check.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">It is like having a conversation with a friend who suddenly says: “Of course, there’s that other thing that has been worrying me.” At first hearing you might miss it but within</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">seconds you are going back to the line and saying “Thing, what thing?”</span></p> Getting it right from the beginningtag:johndean.ning.com,2018-03-16:6360756:Topic:141162018-03-16T14:33:46.389ZJohn Deanhttps://johndean.ning.com/profile/3aj9agicj2wxq
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">One of my students came up with a cracking first line the other day and it got me thinking about one of my favourite topics.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">A busy and harassed judge/editor/agent reads so much that anything that makes them notice you has got to be good. Compelling, gripping, intriguing, it has to…</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">One of my students came up with a cracking first line the other day and it got me thinking about one of my favourite topics.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">A busy and harassed judge/editor/agent reads so much that anything that makes them notice you has got to be good. Compelling, gripping, intriguing, it has to get the reader interested.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">I went back to some of my favourite examples taken from the top 100 of a recent poll of all-time great openings.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">As you know, I do like to write about the importance of good first lines as a way of grabbing the reader.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">How about these examples to make the point for me?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">* Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. —Gabriel García Márquez, <i>One Hundred Years of Solitude</i></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">* It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. —George Orwell, <i>1984</i></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">* It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. —Charles Dickens, <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">* I am an invisible man. —Ralph Ellison, <i>Invisible Man</i></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">* Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested. —Franz Kafka, <i>The Trial</i></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">* If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. —J. D. Salinger, <i>The Catcher in the Rye</i></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Each one draws you into the story right from the off, either by a strong narrative voice, an intriguing thought or simply through the sheer quality of the prose (‘if the opening lines are like, just imagine what the rest will be like’, thinks the reader).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Do that and you have given yourself a great chance of success.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p> How to create characterstag:johndean.ning.com,2018-03-16:6360756:Topic:144162018-03-16T14:31:34.602ZJohn Deanhttps://johndean.ning.com/profile/3aj9agicj2wxq
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">A lot of my teaching focuses on characters (they are at the heart of my classes, they are, after all, our major tools as writers).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">So how do you create them? Here’s some thoughts:<br></br> * Maybe base them on people you know but beware of the law. Don’t…</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">A lot of my teaching focuses on characters (they are at the heart of my classes, they are, after all, our major tools as writers).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">So how do you create them? Here’s some thoughts:<br/> * Maybe base them on people you know but beware of the law. Don’t lift your local vicar wholesale and turn him/her into a cold-blooded killer! Make your characters composites of several people</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">*Describe their physical characteristics You can do it one bit or slot descriptions in as you go.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span> Describe their clothing etc but move beyond simple facts, try to capture their demeanour. How do they speak? Brusque, garrulous? How do they walk? Don’t overdo it, though, too much description slows down stories. I often think a line or two will suffice</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">* Visualise the person, think of small things which make them stand out</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">* Describe their views, their emotions, their thoughts</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">* Maybe come up with something that makes them different. A hobby, an odd phrase that they keep using</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">* If this is a major character get to know them particularly well. How do they react to things? Make sure they are strong enough to carry the story on their shoulders. And we must care about them - not necessarily like but care.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">*Take care with minor characters as well as major, they’re important, not cardboard cut-outs.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Above all, ask yourself are your characters REAL?</span></p> What makes good writing?tag:johndean.ning.com,2018-03-16:6360756:Topic:143122018-03-16T14:24:09.163ZJohn Deanhttps://johndean.ning.com/profile/3aj9agicj2wxq
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">What makes good writing? I think good writing is good writing because it triggers responses in its readers. Readers say ‘I have been in that situation, ‘I know someone like that’, ‘what a terrible thing to be faced with’ etc etc.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">If readers feel like that, it means that they are…</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">What makes good writing? I think good writing is good writing because it triggers responses in its readers. Readers say ‘I have been in that situation, ‘I know someone like that’, ‘what a terrible thing to be faced with’ etc etc.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">If readers feel like that, it means that they are being drawn into the story. They stand next to your characters, they fear for what is about to happen, they simply must know what is on the next page.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">If a reader does not really care what is happening in the story then you have lost them and your story has failed but if they feel part of it, they are experiencing the sheer power of the writer.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">That’s a terrific thing to achieve - and the way to impress publishers and competition judges.</span></p> Where do ideas come from?tag:johndean.ning.com,2018-03-16:6360756:Topic:141132018-03-16T14:17:46.383ZJohn Deanhttps://johndean.ning.com/profile/3aj9agicj2wxq
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">I’ve been doing a lot of teaching, and giving talks, on the idea of ideas lately and came across these excellent quotes.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·…</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">I’ve been doing a lot of teaching, and giving talks, on the idea of ideas lately and came across these excellent quotes.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0px; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span> <span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">People always want to know: Where do I get my ideas? They're everywhere. I'm inspired by people and things around me. (Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0px; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span> <span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">My standard answer is "I don't know where they come from, but I know where they come <i>to</i>, they come to my desk." If I'm not there, they go away again, so you've got to sit and think. (Philip Pullman, English writer)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0px; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span> <span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Ideas come to a writer, a writer does not search for them. "Ideas come to me like birds that I see in the corner of my eye," I say to journalists, "and I may try, or may not, to get a closer fix on those birds." (Patricia Highsmith, American crime writer)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0px; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span> <span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">It's very blurred, it's not clear. The plan is something which gradually evolves. Usually, I'll just start with one particular idea or certain image or even just a mood and gradually it'll kind of grow when other things attach themselves to it. (Jane Rogers, British novelist, editor, and teacher)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0px; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span> <span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Anything can set things going--an encounter, a recollection. I think writers are great rememberers. (Gore Vidal, American novelist, playwright, essayist)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0px; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span> <span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">You can write about <i>anything</i>, and if you write well enough, even the reader with no intrinsic interest in the subject will become involved.<br/> (Tracy Kidder, literary journalist)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0px; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span> <span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">"From you," I say. The crowd laughs. I look at the woman asking the question; she seems innocent enough. I continue. "I get them from looking at the world we live in, from reading the paper, watching the news. It seems as though what I write is often extreme, but in truth it happens every day."<br/> (A. M. Homes, American novelist and short story writer)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0px; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span> <span style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 11pt;">My usual, perfectly honest reply is, "I don't get them; they get me." <br/> (Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist, playwright, and critic</span></p>
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