Piecemeal Manifesto #8 – Where I Get My Ideas (or Brainstorming 101)
They say it’s the question you’re not supposed to ask writers–Where do you get your ideas? I don’t necessarily mind the question because...
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Kurt Dinan
- Jul 20, 2015
- 2 min
Piecemeal Manifesto – Entry #6 – Need Characterization Help? Watch The Breakfast Club
Everything I learned about characterization and introducing characters I learned from this three and a half clip, the opening of The...
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Kurt Dinan
- Jul 5, 2015
- 5 min
Piecemeal Manifesto – Entry #5 – Finding Time to Write
When people hear I sold a novel, their first response (at least the one after, “You?!?!”) is–“How do you have the time to write?” ...
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Kurt Dinan
- Jun 16, 2015
- 2 min
Piecemeal Manifesto #4 Addendum: A Sixth Rule for Revising–Weed Words
I’m officially coining a phrase here–“Weed words.” These are the words you find yourself using over and over again as you write. ...
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Kurt Dinan
- May 31, 2015
- 3 min
Piecemeal Manifesto #4 – My 5 Rules for Revising
Allegedly there are writers out there who can draft a story or novel, do a polish, then send it off to their agent who then has no...
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Kurt Dinan
- Mar 18, 2015
- 4 min
Piecemeal Manifesto – Entry 3 – My Writing Process: Prewriting
When I decided to start writing seriously, I emailed a lot of writers asking them about their process to find out what worked and didn’t...
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Kurt Dinan
- Mar 9, 2015
- 3 min
My Visit to My Publisher
Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Sourcebooks, who will be publishing THE WATER TOWER 5. I arranged the trip because, let’s face...
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Kurt Dinan
- Feb 19, 2015
- 3 min
5 Books on Writing That Helped Me
When I started writing, I discovered pretty quickly that I had a lot to learn. I still remember Sam W. Anderson holding up the short...
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Kurt Dinan
- Feb 17, 2015
- 3 min
Piecemeal Manifesto – Entry 2 – I Embrace the Shitty First Draft
I try to read a lot of books by author’s about writing. It’s comforting in some weird way to hear a writer talk about the struggles he...
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Kurt Dinan
- Feb 10, 2015
- 4 min
Piecemeal Manifesto : Entry 1 : Be Who You Are
A Long Story Explaining a Basic Concept: When I started writing back in 2006, I wrote horror short stories. I suppose that was mostly...
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Kurt Dinan
- Feb 3, 2015
- 2 min
Piecemeal Manifesto: The Introduction
Selling THE WATER TOWER 5 led to a weird sort of crisis of conscience for me. I was excited to get started on the next novel, ready to...
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Kurt Dinan
- Dec 9, 2014
- 3 min
The Water Tower 5 Sold!
Yes, it finally happened. Yesterday I got word from Super Agent Kerry Sparks that she had finalized a deal with Sourcebooks to publish...
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Kurt Dinan
- Aug 26, 2014
- 4 min
I Signed with an Agent Today! (Or a Slush Pile Success Story.)
So, after failing to get a literary agent for my first novel, Lucky Town, today I signed with Kerry Sparks of LGR (Levine, Greenburg,...
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Kurt Dinan
- Sep 19, 2012
- 5 min
How Searching for a Literary Agent Has Made Me a Headcase – Part II
So after all of the rejections, here’s what happened: I felt like a failure. How could I not? I spent four years on the novel, fully...
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Kurt Dinan
- Sep 19, 2012
- 4 min
How Searching for a Literary Agent has Made Me a Headcase – Part I
I have a lot on my mind (for once) and need vomit it all out. I’m waaaay out of sorts writing-wise for various reasons, and have decided...
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Kurt Dinan
- May 7, 2012
- 2 min
Where I Am
Writing Update: So, about a month and a half ago I finished the sixth (and hopefully final) draft of Lucky Town, my 74K YA novel about a...
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Kurt Dinan
- May 19, 2011
- 3 min
4 – A Story Sale and Some Book Reviews
First, a quick thing about me – I wrote “Plink” two (maybe three) years ago. It’s always been my favorite of my short stories. I sent...
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