Avi

word craft

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Blog

The Canterbury Tales

Wow!

One of the more intri­cate ques­tions a writer of his­tor­i­cal fic­tion must deal with is lan­guage. Eng­lish, which has the largest vocab­u­lary of any of the world’s lan­guages, is con­stant­ly evolving …

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dysgraphia

Writing with dysgraphia

A com­put­er rad­i­cal­ly changed the way I wrote. Even when I had com­mit­ted to pro­fes­sion­al writing—and had already pub­lished some books—I had strug­gled all my life with being dysgraphic. 

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reading out loud

Reading my work out loud

I am a believ­er that the best way to teach young peo­ple how to write (and read) is to read to them out loud. It is also the best way to improve your own writing.

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No More Magic

Avi, What’s Your Best Book?

When I talk to my young read­ers and some­times adults, one of the most com­mon ques­tions I am asked is, “Of all the books you have writ­ten, what’s your favorite?” 

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publishing industry

It’s a Privilege

In my years of writ­ing this blog, I haven’t com­ment­ed much about what it takes to work in the pub­lish­ing indus­try, the world that cre­ates the phys­i­cal book.

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The Mysterious Affair at Styles Agatha Christie

The Art of the Book

In the course of my life­time, the print­ed, hard-bound book has under­gone a mas­sive trans­for­ma­tion. It is still a codex, but the qual­i­ty of the book itself, the bind­ing, the paper, the design, and the print­ing has, in my mind, great­ly deteriorated. 

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The Player King

The True King of England

Lit­tle is known about Lam­bert Sim­nel. Who was he real­ly? Where did he come from? How did he come to be cho­sen as a legit­i­mate pre­tender to the Eng­lish throne?

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The Murder of Roger Akroyd Agatha Christie

POV

One of the key ques­tions a writer must come to terms with right from the begin­ning is—how is the sto­ry to be told? What is “the Point of View,” also known as POV? Is it me or he/she?

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