Gerard Bianco Studio

            The persona is what Carl Jung thought of as the public self. He believed that people are the ones who play a role in a drama and that society is their audience.             When you look at life this way, your writing takes on a totally different slant, regardless of whether you are writing a play, a short story or a novel.             The writer’s job is to write about characters, shaping them with their beliefs. The writer then must create situations whereby the characters reveal themselves to society (the reader) as a result of these beliefs . This is showing, not telling.             A character’s belief system has to be obvious and the actions they take must be consistent with these beliefs. The persona of your character must be maintained throughout the story otherwise your st...

As a result of my writing, I have had a wonderful opportunity to meet an entirely different and extraordinary group of people that I never would have encountered otherwise. These are the literary people. When you write a lot, you meet literary people. You are drawn to them, naturally, the way any group of people with the same interests is pulled together. There are three types of literary people. There are writers; readers; and writer/readers. The most interesting of the three are the readers. Writers and writer/readers love to talk about themselves and the trials, tribulations and accolades of their writing. Readers, on the other hand, love to talk books and authors. I’ve learned the most about literature from them. The knowledge that many readers have about books, authors and literature is amazing. I have found that readers are like eaters. There are some eaters who will eat anything—the more the better. Some readers are the same—they will read anything you throw at them—the more the...

           The writer’s journey begins within. A seed, nurtured by a dream, blossoms, gaining strength in its maturity. Small achievements promote discipline and persistence, while inoculating against the fear and self doubt that can often plague a writer in the most desperate hours. Abstraction leads to concretization, which leads to specificity and direction, which in the end, we hope will lead to success.             My writer’s journey began as a young boy, writing every evening in bed, before my eyes were too tired to remain open. Sometimes, my thoughts revolved around the day’s events—friends, relatives and school. But my most precious writings, and I still possess them, were of imaginative stories of things that were, coupled with visions of things that could be. This, you might say, was the beginning of my journey as a storyteller, and it is only because I retained a child-l...

When setting goals, it's important that you do not set your goals too high. Setting goals (New Year's Resolutions) on January 1 that you hope to maintain for a whole year is setting yourself up for failure. It's difficult to maintain a goal for a week - 7 days in a row. How are you supposed to do it for 365 days? Better, is taking smaller steps in smaller increments. Want to eat healthier in 2012? Don't try to drastically change your entire diet. Begin by making a small substitution to your morning diet. Instead of drinking 2 cups of coffee in the a.m. have 1. Use sugar on your grapefruit? Use a low calorie sweetener instead. Taking baby steps allows the body and mind to cope with the drastic step of making a change. After you've accomplished the first small step, then take another. Set yourself up to be a winner. You'll see, it works. Go for it!

Now Write! Mysteries is the fourth volume in the acclaimed Now Write! series.  http://nowwrite.net/mysteries/ This series features 86 never-before published suspense, crime, thriller and other mystery fiction writing exercises from top selling authors. I was fortunate to be selected as a contributor to this marvelous collection. Here is my contribution: http://nowwrite.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Mysteries-Samp-Bianco.pdf

A short short is a short story that usually contains between 1200 - 1500 words. Experienced writers can spit 1500 before breakfast. It's as easy for them as swiping a credit card.         However, an experienced writer also knows that writing the short short can be more difficult than writing a full length novel. The brevity of the story constricts the wordsmith, depriving him of developing character, plot and setting, all of which he can develop fully in a short story, a novella or a full-length novel. Every line and paragraph of the short short must be significant to carry the story forward with rapidity and terseness. Like a prize fighter, the author of the short short attempts to score points with each swing of the pen. To accomplish this task, it is vitally important that you plan your short short well, from start to finish, long before you begin a first draft. There is no wiggle room, no chance to elaborate and not a word to waste. To help with my writing, ...

John Gardner (1933 - 1982) in his book The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft For Young Writers wrote, “It (self-expression) comes about inevitably.” What a benefit it is for the writer of fiction to understand this concept before putting pen to paper. If what Gardner wrote is true, and I believe it is, then no matter what you write, there will always be a self-expressive quality about the work. Do not attempt to negate this fact. Instead, recognize the self-expression in your writing and use it to your advantage. Be conscious of what you feel. Think about what you write and ask why. The answers you come up with will reveal your inner-most emotions, those that are buried in your subconscious. Don't write for the reader. Instead, get to know yourself. It was Joseph Campbell (1904-1987,) the great mythologist, who wrote, “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” I believe the thrill of a lifetime is finding out who you are.