Category
May 19, 2014
“Work finally begins when the fear of doing nothing exceeds the fear of doing it badly.” – Alain de Botton I will not be the first person to tell you that writers are inveterate procrastinators. Writing is a mentally taxing endeavor, and getting started is often the most difficult part. But here’s how I know I’m a writer, and likely always will be – I get antsy when I don’t write. I write every day because that’s the best way I know...
May 2, 2014
If you’re trying to make a serious effort at writing fiction, write by outline. What you may lose in spontaneous creativity will be repaid a hundred times over in logical plotting, consistent pacing, well-considered character arcs, and not writing yourself into a damn corner. I understand why some authors prefer to plot as they go. Laying out the narrative is the fun part, so why would we want to finish it all in a few days and leave ourselves with...
April 29, 2014
“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” -Gustav Flaubert I try to maintain the exact same routine every day. Get enough sleep, eat breakfast, exercise, take a shower, make some tea, and then write. That’s not always possible due to my pesky 9-5, but I have a routine for those days as well. I try to do the same things every single day, so I don’t have to spend...
April 26, 2014
I believe the acts of reading and writing fiction should be based on relationships of mutual respect. First and foremost is an author’s respect of the reader’s time. This is one of Kurt Vonnegut’s eight rules for writing short stories: 1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. An author should respect her readers enough to not waste their time with unnecessary junk. This is hard...
April 24, 2014
I was talking to my editor the other day, and he came up with a good idea for a detail in my novel. My immediate response was: Oooo, that’s good. I should save that for later. No. Hold nothing back. I’m going to use it now. That reactions is how I know it’s a good idea, though....
April 11, 2014
It can be hard to keep all the little details straight while writing a story. Trust me on this. What seems obvious to someone seeing it for a first time is invisible to someone who’s been slaving over it for months or years. Can’t see the forest for the trees, or past our own blind spots. But if an author does most things right? I’ll allow it. I’ll let the little things slide when you’re doing most things right. Take...
March 30, 2014
As a writer, it’s sometimes hard to remember a truth that sounds totally obvious when stated out loud – other people cannot read my mind. I have to say every little detail, or you’ll never know. In describing a scene, building a character, or advancing a plot, there are countless details lodged away in the insanity that is my mind, innumerable details about what everything looks like, what feelings the characters have, their fears, their desires, their pasts, and even...
March 26, 2014
Over the past week I’ve been battling with the revisions on a scene, and in finally fixing the problem, I learned a few lessons. The scene in question was a chase scene, and when my editor first read it, he thought the first half was off. His feedback made sense to me, so I accepted it, and I quickly hacked out a potential fix to run past him. Lesson #1: Spend more time planning out rewrites. A little extra thought can...
March 23, 2014
I have so many things I need to do every day. I have to go to work. I have to put in my 8+ hours, wrestle with recalcitrant coworkers, beat sense into spreadsheets, and creatively problem-solve until my eyes go red. I have to do errands and chores. I have to cook, clean, shop for groceries, keep my car maintained, do laundry, do the dishes, and so much more. If I ignore them they just pile up, and I start...
February 15, 2014
I’ve come to realize that it’s not the amount of time I have to write that matters, but the amount of mental real estate I can give to my story. I struggle to write part time, when it’s the last thing I do after a day of work, but when I can give my entire mind to my story, it flies. In a single hour I can do much better work than in two hours another day. I believe this has...