Categories
-
Recent Posts
Archives
- April 2016
- February 2016
- October 2014
- March 2014
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- February 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- February 2011
- July 2010
- June 2010
- April 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- October 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
So You Wanna Be a Writer, Pt. 6 (The Obstacle Course)
It’s Sunday again. My non-writing day. So here I am. Not writing.
I’ve already talked about working on description (sunset exercise) and stealing dialog (from strangers), Read the rest of this entry »
Ahoy From The iPhone
So, here I am, blogging from my this crazy little rectangle of fried (and highly arranged) sand. Extremely cool, even if it does leave me without blogging excuse when traveling. More importantly, it gives me a terrific excuse for typoes. Don’t judge me, I’m typing with my thumbs on somerhj g the size of a chicklet.
Am I a hypocrite? I still think the kindle is (mostly) evil.
Books From My Past, Pt. 1 (Ah, Sweet Tintin)
Two things before I really begin . . .
1. I am currently nosed completely under (like a mole, not a ship) working on a new book. This is why I haven’t been blogging (see, perfectly good excuse). But as I don’t work on Sundays, that excuse doesn’t apply right now. Thus, I blog.
2. I hope no one expects me to suggest amazingly original works in this new blog category of mine. Or particularly helpful recommendations. I can only be autobiographical. I can’t say that everything I mention here will be whole grain, wholesome boy-food. The meals I will recount here are meals that sated my appetite, filled me up, and/or left me curious to try new things. Some titles that I intend to trot out will be the literary equivalent of sliced dogs in mac ‘n’ cheese (and that’s no insult in my world).
Right. Down to it then. When I was in 5th grade, Read the rest of this entry »
So You Wanna Be a Writer, Pt. 5 (Found Dialog)
In the comments section on a previous post, I promised a dialog exercise. Look at me now. Apparently, I keep a promise.
One of the easiest ways a story can fall apart (or never come together), is in the humanity of the characters. A story could be terrific conceptually, well plotted, outlined and re-outlined, read (and loved) by aunts and mothers and siblings and former 6th grade teachers, and still be populated by characters who limp around like zombies patched together from old classmates (with the emotional depth of sock puppets). Read the rest of this entry »