Seven Deadly Dialogue Sins
The Snark Zone Stephanie “Baker” Lenz & Amanda “The Bellman” Marlowe Baker & The Bellman demonstrate how not to write dialogue. Happily, she smiled, “Ooo la la, Ereeek, zee zewers of gay Paree,...
View ArticleThe Admission
Three Cheers and a Tiger ~ Exhibition Stephanie Lenz The E.R. smelled like Listerine spilled on stainless steel. Voices around the curtain spoke medicalese. Once in a while I heard “psych consult” and...
View ArticleHelp! Help! I’m Bein’ Repressed!
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz When I was a senior in high school, a friend and I found the box of programs for our speech team end-of-year banquet. On the plain backs...
View ArticleThe Borrowers
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz The story in the April 18 San Antonio Express-News began with this paragraph: “So the single mother, a teacher’s aide, points to the...
View ArticleQuestion Authority
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz Since my daughter was born, my big outings are to places like discount stores, malls and bookstores. I also haven’t had the energy or...
View ArticleThe Spirit of the Snark
The Snark Zone: Letters From the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz We rushed home from a weekend away this Halloween. In our first Halloween in the neighborhood, I didn’t want to be pegged as “one of...
View ArticleA Little Writing
The Snark Zone: Letters From the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz As I write this essay, I haven’t showered since the night before last and I’m still in my pajamas, wearing my glasses. I have just given...
View ArticleTell Me A Story
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz I began April 7 by singing “Jive Talking” as an audio post for my blog readers. A reward/punishment for them helping me to exceed two...
View ArticleNineteen Days
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz In January, I decided to pick up the completed manuscript of my first novel and clean it up to query again. I cut thousands of words and...
View ArticleMeanwhile, Behind the Scenes…
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz Some journals have editors specific to each section, like a fiction editor or a poetry editor. Although we’ve kicked that idea around,...
View ArticleGot to Get You into My Life
The Snark Zone: Letters From the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz It’s very easy advice: “write every day.” For me, I declare, “I’m going to write tomorrow.” Then the cat’s sick. Then the kids use the...
View ArticleAn Observer in My Own Life
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz June 20 was my half-birthday. I took my kids to the park, bought some yarn, and nearly died. A reaction to an 800 milligram tablet of...
View Article#writerwin
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz I snatched the opportunity to do this month’s SnarkZone not knowing what I would write about. Would it be my experience participating in...
View ArticleCount Me In
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz Photo Credit: Stephanie Lenz I belong to the 52 Weeks 25 Stories challenge and for the purposes of the group, some writing doesn’t...
View ArticleAll Writers Are Independent But Some Are More Independent Than Others
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz Photo Credit: Allen Skyy Diet Coke ran an ad during the Oscars that began with a writer working at his desk, taking a stretch break and...
View ArticleThe Storytellers
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz Photo Credit: Sarah-Rose In mid-2010, the world got to meet a charismatic man who told a compelling story of a thwarted crime. He was...
View ArticleYou Are Not Your Work
Stephanie Lenz The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Photo Credit: Dennis Stauffer The sign of an amateur is to answer your critics. Don’t ever write a letter to a bad review because then, first of...
View Article404: Not Found
Stephanie “Baker” Lenz & Theryn “Beaver” Fleming The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present. —Golda Meir Josie...
View ArticleWhat this editor has to say about articles for writers will SHOCK you!
The Snark Zone: Letters From the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz “Every writer MUST do this!” “Nine Rules For Your Novel” “Thirteen Things You Must Write In Your Travel Journal” “The Proper Way To Hold...
View ArticleTo Discover a Mockingbird
The Snark Zone: Letters from the Editors Stephanie “Baker” Lenz I first heard of To Kill A Mockingbird when my ambitious eighth grade language arts teacher (and basketball coach) Mr. Harper assigned...
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