Category: fiction

Pulp Literature (and Ace Baker) at VCon!

Oct 4, 2014

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by

Ace Baker

in fiction, poetry, short stories, writer ace baker

Last night, I finished work at 6:30, flew across the Port Mann bridge, and made it to the VCon book signing event by 7:00. VCon looked like a bar scene from Star Wars–many interesting characters, and these ones weren’t in between pages of a book! Wandering the halls were fantasy and sci-fi characters, steampunkers,…
Name drop 2: MICHAEL SLADE!

Jul 25, 2014

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by

Ace Baker

in champion, choose your weapon, fiction, knockout idea, novels, power punch

Just in case you even for a moment thought Lisa Unger would respond and Michael Slade wouldn’t, here’s a post from the Master of Horror himself: That’s what good books and good teachers do, right? Pass on the passion from one generation to the next! By the way, that talk of Slade’s I went to in…
“FLY FISHING” writing technique with Susan Pieters!

Jul 14, 2014

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by

Ace Baker

in fancy footwork, fiction, novels, short stories, writing technique

I’m no angler… and I’m not sure whether Susan Pieters knows how to fly fish or not—but she’s a gifted writer who uses fly fishing technique in at least one of the tales she tells. Let me show you how… In fly fishing, the lure itself is light, made to appear to be a…
Great openings from Best American Short Stories 2013 !

Jul 11, 2014

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by

Ace Baker

in fiction, novels, short stories, starters

I’m making my way through my copy of The Best American Short Stories 2013, and I wanted to share with you some of the best opening lines. Remember, an opening line can get YOU going on your own writing. The trick is NOT to read the complete story until AFTER you’ve written your own story.…
Quotation Inspiration #005: The way I feel about strong writing and…

Jul 11, 2014

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by

Ace Baker

in fiction, nonfiction, novels, poetry, short stories, writing technique

This quotation is definitely the way I feel about strong writing and dedicated readers: Try this: Take a moment to reflect: What’s beautiful about the writing you admire?
Can you smell it? How to use strong imagery like Natalie Kusz in “Vital Signs”!

Jun 15, 2014

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by

Ace Baker

in choose your weapon, fiction, nonfiction, writing technique

Imagery is a definite “choose your weapon” topic. I mean, you have five senses to choose from (or combinations of them). While sight and touch are present in many works, look at how Natalie Kusz appeals to the sense of SMELL in “Vital Signs”: I was always waking up, in those days, to the smell…
LIST OPENINGS…how they can help your fiction and nonfiction

May 27, 2014

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by

Ace Baker

in fancy footwork, fiction, nonfiction, power punch, starters, writing technique

There is a power to momentum that is undeniable and unstoppable. Many writers have learned to benefit from the energy of a LIST early in a piece of creative fiction or nonfiction. Let me SHOW you what I mean . . . Here’s a beginning paragraph from Gordon Grice’s “The Black Widow” in High…
Jennifer Manuel #002: Pathos and simile in SILENT E !

Nov 13, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in choose your weapon, fancy footwork, fiction, knockout idea, power punch, short stories, Uncategorized, writing technique

After my analysis of Jennifer Manuel’s award-winning story, “The Woman in the Box with the Baby,” Jennifer wrote and tweeted to tell me she was pleased with what I had to say about her work –whew! She also e-mailed me a copy of another award-winning tale of hers, “Silent E,” a story that earned…
6 days until SIWC… 6 sentence styles to test out in your writing

Oct 20, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in choose your weapon, fancy footwork, fiction, writing technique

6 days until SIWC, so here are six styles of sentences (found in recent readings!) for you to take a peek at. Thanks Shan, Katie, Aaron, and Lena for chasing these down in your reading: 1. The Interrupted Sentence Maybe he should have stopped—showed them that he wasn’t afraid—but the muscles in his legs…
Writing scale from The Pocket Muse

Sep 6, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in fiction, novels, short stories, starters

Just like musicians believe in practicing scales as a way of preparing, staying in tune with the music, and connecting to something familiar, I’m a firm believer that writers can get going and create new work, even when they feel blocked, by using a writing scale, or prompt. I call them starters, and…