Writer: n. Someone living in a constant state of wtf by choice. ~Eric Andrew Satchwill Lately, I’ve been reading Page Fright: Foibles and Fetishes of Famous Writers by Harry Bruce. At one point, he quotes a number of authors talking about the abject terror they feel when they sit down to write, and it got me thinking about my own attitude… (more…)
Every once in a while I take a step back and just think about the names of the characters in my book. Sometimes they seem to name themselves and sometimes I have to dig and search for just the right one, but it’s always something unique to the character and the story. In my current novel, I’ve noticed that I… (more…)
Much like with people in real life, character dynamics can get… messy. Especially when we’re suddenly forced to look at them through the eyes of an outsider. I ran into this in the scene I’m currently writing for the second book in the series. I’ve spent more than an entire book with my core cast by this point; I know… (more…)
They say writers are liars. They also say that to be able to hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously is a mark of genius. I say genius writers believe their own lies while simultaneously knowing them to be fiction. In a prime demonstration of the third point, today I managed to scare the living daylights out of myself with one of… (more…)
I was going to write a meaningful post about my faith and coming into Christianity as an adult rather than being raised as such, but I am far too tired to make any sense on that front whatsoever. So I’m going to defer that post until another day and say: I love writing, I’m rocking NaNoWriMo, and because of this… (more…)
or Why Am I Wrestling An Octopus Into A Mayonnaise Jar Again? “Writing a novel… is like wrestling an octopus into a mayonnaise jar.” –Attributed to Patti Hill. I think this quote describes the writing process perfectly (thank you @BA_Matthews for bringing it to my attention). It’s not impossible to wrestle an octopus into a mayonnaise jar. They’re squishy and can squeeze… (more…)
We all have our writing routines. Some are more strict than others, some involve a particular setting or music, and some include what we’re reading when we’re not working. Sometimes we need these routines–and sometimes we need to abandon them for something completely different. My routine typically involves listening to no music whatsoever while working, and reading a similar genre… (more…)
As you can probably guess, I’m deep in the middle of the editing process on my novel. I’ve been through the whole story at least once–some parts many, many more times than that–and now I’m making all those minor adjustments needed for the story to flow and make sense. Except that there are no minor adjustments. Not really. One of… (more…)
As writers, we tend to be solitary creatures. It’s the nature of our work. Sitting in the dark pounding away at a keyboard for hours upon hours doesn’t really lend itself to rich and varied social life. Add the fact that most ‘normal’ people don’t want to hear how our characters hijacked our story yet again, and it looks like… (more…)
Growing as a writer, learning the finer points of character and storytelling, can really change the way we watch TV. Because we can now see what works–and what really, really doesn’t–it can be hard to just sit back and enjoy something. There’s always that part of us critiquing the show and thinking about how we could have done it better.… (more…)