Category Archives: Developing Writing Skills

A Hopeful Author – Even During a Pandemic!

Posted on November 18, 2020 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

November in the United States is Thanksgiving time. This year, the US Thanksgiving holiday is Thursday November 26th. It may seem to be an unusual time to be thankful with so many across the world being economically fragile, food insecure and with … Continue reading →

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Tips on Writing That First Novel – and All That Follow (Part 3)

Posted on September 30, 2020 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

This is my final installment (Part 3) of my three-part series on a recent talk and interview I did recently about my latest thriller novel release. As I’ve mentioned previously, my local writers’ group—The San Antonio Writers Guild—invited me to … Continue reading →

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Tips on Writing That First Novel – and All That Follow (Part 2)

Posted on September 23, 2020 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

This is Part 2 of my three-part installment on a recent talk and interview about my latest novel release. As I mentioned last week, my local writers’ group—The San Antonio Writers Guild—invited me to be the guest speaker at their … Continue reading →

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Tips on Writing That First Novel – and All That Follow (Part 1)

Posted on September 16, 2020 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Recently, I was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of my local writers’ group—The San Antonio Writers Guild—and they asked me to speak about the process of writing a novel, how I choose the plots for my novels, and … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, A Murder Mystery Novel, A Mystery Novel, A New Novel By James J. Murray, A New Psychological Thriller Release, A New Thriller Novel, A Thriller Novel, A Writer's Psyche, About James J. Murray, About Murder, About Writing, Acids with Systemic Toxicity, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Chemical Poisons, Designer Drug Deaths, Designing Murder Plots, Developing Story Plots, Developing Storyline Ideas, Developing Writing Skills, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Fiction Based on Facts, Fiction Based on Real Life, Fiction Writing - A Believable Lie, Fictional Character Development, Ideas for Murder Scenes, James J. Murray's LETHAL MEDICINE Novel, James J. Murray's THE SERIAL CHEMIST, Lethal Medicine Thriller Novel, Lethal Medicine-The Novel, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, Murder Mystery Novel, New Blog, New Book Is Published, New Book Release, New Thriller To Download, Plotting Interesting Murder Scenes, Prescription For Murder Blog, The Art of Storytelling, The Art of Writing, The Science of Murder, The Serial Chemist, The Serial Chemist - A Psychological Thriller Novel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Exploiting Computer Chip Flaws

Posted on February 7, 2018 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

In my Jon Masters thriller series, my protagonist Jon has a friend named Ed Ochoa. Ed is a computer genius and often does some cyber-magic to produce secure, and usually unavailable, information that helps Jon out of a variety of … Continue reading →

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A Thankful Writer!

Posted on November 22, 2017 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Here in the United States it’s Thanksgiving time—Thursday, November 23rd to be exact—and it’s a day of fantastic food feasts, with the bonus of a long holiday weekend ahead. More importantly, it’s a time to reflect on what makes our … Continue reading →

Posted in A Holiday Wish, A Writer's Thanksgiving Blog, About James J. Murray, About Running, About Writing, Being Thankful Every Day, Being Thankful For Your Life, Blog Trends, Blog Writers, Blogging, Developing Writing Skills, Growing As A Writer, Happy Thanksgiving Blog, Holiday Cheer, James J. Murray Blog, Life Skills, Life-Altering Goals, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, New Blog, Prescription For Murder Blog, Special Perks of Being A Writer, Thankful For Being A Writer, Why A Writer Should Be Thankful!, Writing As A Special and Rewarding Career | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Commas, Em Dashes, and Ellipses—Their Proper Use!

Posted on September 13, 2017 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

In a recent blog, I discussed how to properly use the three types of dashes in writing. Today, I’d like to further the discussion on punctuation marks, namely those used specifically to clarify or to emphasize a point. They are … Continue reading →

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Hyphens and Dashes – The Dread of Misuse!

Posted on August 30, 2017 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Hyphens and dashes are two distinctly different punctuation marks and a proper understanding of each will avoid embarrassing mistakes in your writing. Will anyone get MURDERED as a result of using the wrong one in the wrong place? No, but … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Writing, Accuracy in Editing, Accuracy in Writing, Achieving Perfection, Achieving Writing Perfection, All About Writing, Blog Writers, Blogging, Developing a Writing Career, Developing Better Writing Skills, Developing Writing Skills, Dreaded Misuse of Hyphens and Dashes, Em Dash Use, Em Dashes and Ellipses, En Dashes and Em Dashes, Grammar and Punctuation, How to Use Em Dashes Properly, Hyphens, Hyphens and Dashes, Hyphens and Dashes and Their Misuse, James J. Murray Blog, Learning the Art of Writing, Mastering Your Craft, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, New Blog, Obsession with Proper Usage of the English Language, Proper Punctuation in Writing, Proper Use of the Written Word, Punctuation Marks, Punctuation Rules, The Art of Writing, The Proper Use of Hyphens and Dashes, The Writings of James J. Murray, Tools of Fiction Writing, Use of Dashes, Use of Hyphens, Writing Skills, Writing Techniques | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Self Defense 101 (Part 2)

Posted on August 2, 2017 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Last week I wrote a blog on various self-defense techniques, and I detailed the top seven to protect oneself from an assault. Possibly a character in one of your upcoming storylines will need such skills. I know I’ve considered using … Continue reading →

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Self Defense 101 (Part 1)

Posted on July 26, 2017 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog on how to write a bloodless death scene. It detailed some interesting assault techniques, both physical and by chemical means, to incapacitate and likely kill a character whose demise is a … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, A Writer's Psyche, About James J. Murray, About Murder, About Writing, Accuracy in Editing, Accuracy in Writing, Achieving Writing Perfection, All About Murder, All About Writing, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Characteristics of Killing, Characteristics of Murder, Deciding How to Kill Off a Character in a Novel, Deciding What Types of Fictional Characters Fit Into Your Plot, Defining Murder, Designing Murder Plots, Developing Better Writing Skills, Developing Story Plots, Developing Storyline Ideas, Developing Writing Skills, Evidence Free Murder, Fiction Based on Facts, Fiction Based on Real Life, Fiction Writing - A Believable Lie, How to Choose a Murder Weapon for a Plot Idea, How To Write A BloodLess Murder Scene, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, James J. Murray Blog, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, New Blog, New Methods of Murder, New Methods To Kill Characters in Your Novel, Plot Development, Plot Ideas and Where They Come From, Plotting Interesting Murder Scenes, Plotting Murder Scenes, Prescription For Murder Blog, Self Defense Ideas, Self Defense Lessons, Story Development, The Art of Storytelling, The Art of Writing, the perfect murder weapon, The Psychology of Murder, The Science of Murder, Ways To Kill, Ways to Murder, Writing Death Scenes, Writing Dramatic Murder Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment