Tag Archives: writing

A Dose of Encouragement

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Chuck Mall

All of these scenarios about writers exist: * Someone wrote a first novel that sold well and made them famous. But after that success, none of his other books did well. * Someone wrote for 25 years, completing several manuscripts … Continue reading →

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Way Back in the Wayback Machine

Posted on July 14, 2020 by Chuck Mall

To write kidlit, you need to mine your own past and reflect Continue reading →

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Middle-Grader Road Grading

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Chuck Mall

Why are middle-grade books my chosen writing genre? I’ve written middle-grade and young-adult fiction, and picture books (which I’ve tried to write; but can’t do it well). Somehow middle-grade plots, characters, and ideas are what populate my mind.  Perhaps it’s … Continue reading →

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The Useful Cage

Posted on February 2, 2020 by Chuck Mall

How the Storytelling Format Can Limit a Fictional Narrative Strategically As a writer who has created almost all of his fiction in third person limited, using a standard narrative format, I’m always exploring how established novelists use or misuse format … Continue reading →

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Love, a Dream, and a Theft

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Chuck Mall

My Secret Relationship with Ursula K. Le Guin’s Mother by Chuck Mallory To understand, you need to know I grew up in a very small town in the 1960s. My mother was able to put me in first grade at … Continue reading →

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When Your Own Writing Spooks You

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Chuck Mall

Clean the basement. That’s how you find pieces of writing you never remember writing. I found one, and am going to throw it away. It isn’t bad as much as it is strange. In 2008 I took a stream-of-consciousness writing … Continue reading →

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Angst. Just your general angst.

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Chuck Mall

I know writing is not supposed to be fun. I know it is not necessarily supposed to be hard. I know it can work well as you get into the “flow” and time and space disappear beneath the rapid-fire sequence … Continue reading →

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The Strangest Quotes You Have Ever Heard, No Kidding

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Chuck Mall

Here’s what happens when you open an old box you forgot you had and look inside… Continue reading →

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The Secret about Historical Fiction and Sci-Fi

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Chuck Mall

Chicago is known for its long horrible winters, and being a writer and avid reader, I always have plenty to do indoors. However, sometimes the writing is arduous and you need a break. Then you get to that weird in-between-good-books … Continue reading →

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Write to the Market?

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Chuck Mall

I started with good intentions. When I was in elementary and middle school, I wrote about the small things close to me and my life. I lived in a closed world and could not see outside that narrow horizon. Though … Continue reading →

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