Margaret Duarte

Visionary Fiction

For Writers

Show Me the Details – Descriptive Details

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After ten years of writing fiction, dealing with such story elements as plot, dialogue, characterization, and style, I’ve finally reached the point where I understand the value of descriptive detail in making my writing come alive, raising it from a lump of clay to a fine work of art. I punch, twist, slice, and carve my first drafts, […]

Dash Off a Memory / Create a Memoir, Lesson One

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Note to Reader: My friend and critique partner, Dorothy Ann Skarles, has generously offered to share one of her lessons on how to create a memoir. Dorothy taught memoir writing at Lodi Adult School until her retirement. She is the author of two novels and one non-fiction book, Learning to Write the Easy Way, published by Twilight […]

Zero-Second Blog Clickers, Love Them, Hate Them

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I call them zero-second blog clickers, the follows your blog picks up in a “I’ll-follow-you-if-you-follow-me” trade or at a follower traffic exchange. I love them.  I hate them. Sure, as a new blogger writing at least three posts a week, I’m in the market for readers who will follow my work.  The more the better. In some cases, […]

Final, Final Read-Through. Again

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I’ve just finished the final, final read through of my novel, Between Now and Forever.  Again. But at least this read through only took seven hours, a record, since the last one took ten, spread out over two visits to Starbucks instead of one. Final Read Through And now I’m done.  Really. When I tell my critique partners this, […]

Dash Off A Memory / Create A Memoir

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Are you trying to decide if the writing life is for you? Today, my friend and critique partner Dorothy Ann Skarles introduces her book, Learning to Write the Easy Way for Fun, Posterity and Money, in which she helps you discover your hidden writing talent. As she says in her introduction, “Connecting with your own past in a […]