My thoughts and ideas on various topics, including advice about writing and getting published.
Back when I was chasing success in the photography business, I ran across a lot of discussions about BRAND (yes, I need to shout it, sorry). Yes, everyone claimed. You need it in order to be a successful artist. My issue with the concept? There seem to be as many definitions of BRAND as there […]
Place this post in the thinking outloud category to consider this question: does book length matter as much when publishing an eBook vs. print publications? I ask this because as I sought publication of my first novel, DEAD BEEF, through normal publication channels, I learned that when it came to length it shouldn’t be too […]
Whether you’re like me and don’t outline your stories or you outline them to the last detail, if you don’t know how your story ends, you have a lot of head-scratching coming. Lately not knowing how my story ends has bothered me a great deal. I think I have that great hook of a beginning, […]
While reading someone else’s writing do you stop at a sentence to edit it in your head so it reads better? Does it ever rankle you when two sentences in a row use passive voice? Do you chop out unnecessary wordiness? Do you reword tired cliches into more clever, snappy phrases? If so, you might […]
Lately I am increasingly facing the realization that for evidence of a Creator I need look no further than my own creativity. Oh, I’ve read a fair share of books presenting this or that other apologetic. Given my engineering background, the design argument used to hold a lot of appeal. All of those arguments seem […]
A few days back, while writing a chapter for one of my in-work novels, my protagonist cracked some eggs, diced and whipped up a few ingredients and cooked a Spanish Omelette. Well, add this to the things I love about writing: I finally got the courage to cook up one of these. Add this also […]
I just read another article about the pros and cons of reading printed books vs. e-readers. Actually, it’s a head-to-head column worth the read, but which in the end leaves me as dissatisfied as prior, well, reading experiences. And that’s a nice segue-way, because that’s essentially where the column places the focus — on the […]
Haven’t you heard? Agents are looking for writers with a strong voice. As I shop and submit my work through the usual wickets, I keep reading statements like that and have to wonder whether we’re hearing — and reading — voices in all the wrong places. Why do I say that? One simple statement guides […]
A colleague once told me that while it may be true a picture is worth a thousand words, a bad picture causes a million questions. This and my exploration of story-telling through imagery, namely photography, and creative writing, with a mixture of essays — mostly about photography — and fiction has led me upon more […]
