(Coming to you from the Philadelphia Writer’s Conference…) Maybe it’s because I’m American, but I tend to associate coffee with books and literature. I know that it’s traditional to discuss literature along with politics or other current events at tea time, but Americans are more drinkers of coffee than tea. I enjoy both, and in… Continue reading The Almighty Bean
Tag: Writing
The Home Stretch
Maybe it’s just me, as I amble towards the end of my current project, doing my utmost to follow my own tenth rule of writing fiction. There’s something that I’ve noticed over the past week. Maybe it’s just because I’m getting into ‘conference’ mode, or maybe this is a side effect of continuing to get… Continue reading The Home Stretch
Agents
No, silly, not those agents. It’s been been over a year since I discussed The Fine Art of Selling Yourself. Other than being almost done with a novel that, while imperfect, might actually have a shot of getting some ink, very little has changed for me. I still think pitches should be simple, agents should… Continue reading Agents
Canned Goods: Vampire Novel Contest Thingie
Okay, in all honesty, I have no idea when the novel contest was or why I felt inclined to enter it. Or if I even did enter it. The ol’ cracker barrel ain’t what it used to be, as Uncle Karl might say. Regardless, I saw this as I was re-opening my files for the… Continue reading Canned Goods: Vampire Novel Contest Thingie
Tear Down That Wall
Athletes often talk of ‘hitting the wall’. Without the right training or glucose intake, an endurance runner will come to a point where they’re all but overwhelmed with fatigue. These folks love to run and train hard for a marathon, but in the midst of their enjoyment comes a point that drains them of energy… Continue reading Tear Down That Wall
Why Contrivance Sucks
Let’s face it. Fiction is a planned endeavor. The best works are ones that are plotted out from first act to last, from beginning to end. They have structure, flow and purpose. Some even have a message to deliver along with a story to tell. But when that message is tied to an anvil dropped… Continue reading Why Contrivance Sucks
Living by the Creed
I know what you’re thinking. “Oh, crap! He’s finally snapped! He’s going to get himself a white hoodie and start jumping on random people so he can stab them in the neck with a #2 pencil to to make sure people get the irony!” First of all, no. Neither Altaiir nor Ezio jumped on ‘random’… Continue reading Living by the Creed
The Underlying Theme
Courtesy Terribleminds, make with the clicky-clickly I think I was consciously putting this off. Not because the idea of establishing a theme for the novel is disinteresting to me, no. I just didn’t want to define a theme and then get preachy about it. I don’t want this to be the kind of story where… Continue reading The Underlying Theme
Prototypes
There have been some interesting reactions to yesterday’s ICFN entry, which I may address later. For now, I’m trying to get the laptop’s graphics up to Azerothian snuff, and in the course of doing so, I’ve seen the word ‘prototype’ flash once or twice. That got me thinking. A lot of a writer’s drafts could… Continue reading Prototypes
Exposing Exposition
Say you have a story you want to tell. For argument’s sake, let’s further posit that this story doesn’t take place on Earth in the year 2010. It takes place in 2055, or on some other planet, or back in the Renaissance. Provided you’ve done your research or laid a good foundation in terms of… Continue reading Exposing Exposition
