You’ve been told Clichés are the ultimate taboo in the writing world — unsightly, unimaginative, almost blasphemous phrases. Google even defines a cliché as ‘a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.’ But I’m going to tell you differently; after all, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Why […]
Posted inWriting Advice
Learning to Love Your Writing
After months and months of hard work, you’ve finally finished writing your first novel. Pride, excitement, relief – these are all the things you should be feeling. But now you’ve reached the finish line, you feel anything but that. Suddenly, those character you cared for dearly have become nothing more than meaningless scribbles. When your […]
Posted inNews
Bhooks News October 2020
In October, we spent most of our time developing the first version of the Bhooks chat – and deploying it! Bhooks chat is now released and part of the official website! Now we’re working on making push notifications a smooth experience, more and better keyboard shortcuts, fix some bugs that might appear, etc. We’re happy […]
Posted inReviews
Reading Things That Will Happen After the End of the World No One Will Be Around to Witness By Wanda Deglane
After the End of the World encapsulates a singular poem which, as the name suggests, immerses the reader in a post-apocalyptic Earth. When I first picked this chapbook up and read the title, I assumed it was going to be a dystopian tear-jerker; a tragedy in every way possible. I expected it to remind me […]
Posted inNews
Bhooks News September 2020
In September, a lot of effort was put into a new feature which will be released in October. Still there were some pressing matters that were taken care of: Remove critique hint for frequent critics Remove critique ratings for empty title tags Fixed image loading errors (526 exceptions) Created a username renaming feature, which can […]
Posted inLet's Talk Writing
Are Free-er Poets and Modern Free Verse “Killing Poetry?”
William Childress, in his response to Willard Spiegelman’s essay ‘Has Poetry Changed?’, claims that modern free verse fails to appreciate poetic craft, is something you ‘just sit down and write’ and does not provide receivers with a moving, emotional impact. He further suggests that not only is there a lack of craft involved, but even free-er poetry’s […]
Posted inNews
Bhooks News August 2020
This August, Bhooks has received plenty of new convenience features, bugfixes, and we set up an initial base for online chat and levels (based off total feathers).
Posted inWriting Advice
Overcoming Writer’s Block: the Stepping Stones to Picking Up the Pen Again
“That frustrating, self-defeating inability to generate the next line, the right phrase, the sentence that will release the flow of words again.” – Mike Rose, A Cognitivist Analysis of Writer’s Block. Writer’s block. Every writer at one point in their journey has had those two foreboding words squat inside their thoughts. Usually, this unwanted visitor […]
Posted inWriting Advice
Crafting Dialogue: Top 5 Things to Avoid
“Dialogue is not just quotation. It is grimaces, pauses, adjustments of blouse buttons, doodles on a napkin, and crossings of legs.” – Jerome Stern No matter how wonderful your description is, no matter how many unique metaphors or images you include, nothing can ever “make up” for poorly-written dialogue. Dialogue is the life of your story. It […]
Posted inWriting Advice
What is Chekhov’s Gun: Understanding the Most Useful Plot Advice
“If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.” – Anton Chekhov In brief, Chekhov’s Gun is the idea of including only what is necessary to the story. If it’s not essential, cut it. The Chekhov’s Gun concept has […]