Category Archives: Writing
Shedding My Skin
Every so often, perhaps every 7-10 years, I shed my past and move forward with a new persona. I call this shedding my skin. I’ll play with a few ideas before it happens, measure my level of dissatisfaction and discomfort, … Continue reading
Protag problems.
Have you ever gotten into a book only to discover part way through that you hate the protagonist? It’s a lot like relationships. You start off being attracted to the cover and blurb, you read a few chapters, and you get … Continue reading
Collateral Damage
Collateral Damage I’m a big fan of showing collateral damage in fiction plots. I’m not talking about the military summations of who died on either side. I’m talking about showing what happens when your protagonist does something that profoundly affects … Continue reading
Meh
Meh. The life of freelance is one where you have to be your own boss, co-worker, and marketing department. You also have to provide your own inspiration. Bleh. Community is a thing too. It’s hard to find other creative people … Continue reading
Stealing Time
How do I find the time to write? It’s easy: you steal time from your kids, your spouse, your pets and yourself. You can also neglect your chores, your work, your health and your friends. See where I’m going with this? … Continue reading
Writing Is A Lonely Affair
Writing is a lonely affair. I often think I would be a better writer if I lived an ascetic life. Partly because the act of writing is a never ending churn of creativity and perfectionism, partly because giving yourself permission … Continue reading
Short Story Editing
I read about 300 short stories a year and I’d like to share some thoughts on how to improve your story. Know where to start your story. Sometimes you’re five pages in and you realize that the fifth page … Continue reading
Introspective-Rejection-Depression
Creative people tend to subject themselves to something I call introspective-rejection-depression. Let me explain. People who create stuff, whether it’s writing or art, do not succeed in supporting themselves with their creativity until the product is in front of the … Continue reading
Time Management
We are not robots. We are humans trying to make a living while doing stuff that makes us feel like we belong. We are also creative beings who need to be alone sometimes. I started doing writing/editing because it was … Continue reading
Punctuation in narrative genre fiction.
I’ve been talking to several fellow editors this week about punctuation in narrative genre fiction. Partly because I write in this arena and partly because I’m currently working my way through about 250 short stories for an upcoming workshop. … Continue reading
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