My thoughts and ideas on various topics, including advice about writing and getting published.
From time to time folks ask me questions about the Our Cyber World series. Just as often, I wonder whether folks have questions about how I’ve structured this series, among other details. Here’s my effort to address some of these queries. Note that as I provide answers, I will do so with minimal to no […]
Another Thanksgiving Day looms near, and here I am, once more swirling with thoughts of a family get together, lots of snooze-inducing turkey, and all the things I can get done over the long weekend (no, not shopping, please)! But wait. I’m missing something. Again. OK, OK. I know it well. I should be thankful. […]
Recently, I took a big chance with the protagonist of my Tracking Jane series. I gave Jane McMurtry a strong, regional voice. Though she has an English degree, part of her character rebels against correctness of many sorts, including the sort imparted to her inside a classroom. And she talks as she wills. That’s part […]
I find few things in life as frustrating in their wastefulness as grinding along in gnarled traffic. I had one of those experiences this morning. Instead of muttering about it, I turned the long moments into an opportunity for reflection and self-expression. We flow along rivers of concrete and steel; We the successful, ground to […]
If it is true that we are all works in progress, the writer never ceases to have a #WIP going. Now that I’ve completed 4 episodes of the Tracking Jane series, and though I have a fifth one rattling in my brain, I am going back to some unfinished business in my Our Cyber World […]
Sometimes we over-talk about this rules-based stuff. Why? I think it’s easier than talking about what really matters. Don’t get me wrong. Let me get this out right up front. Rules are important to make sure we don’t hurt ourselves and others. I like rules and the purpose they serve. I really like rules that […]
Why do we write and how do we keep it going? To answer this question, let’s build on Descartes’ “I think therefore I am.” OK, that proves, at least to ourselves, that we exist. In turn we write because we exist: we cannot not write (Ha, take that! Double-negative!), because the mere fact of existing […]
Sometimes, when you’ve been doing something for a while, even something you enjoy, you need a break. This became the case for me two months ago, when after working hard on the Our Cyber World series, I got the idea to write a short story about a wounded Army dog handler and her wounded German […]
Today I address one of those topics that keeps coming among writers: pantsying vs. outlining. Or, as I prefer to term it, you know, to avoid derisive language, Organic vs. Planned writing. As the title to this post suggests, I like mine organic, than you. Why? Let’s work through a few pointers. If you want […]
As a reader, I find few things as annoying as a protracted, slow-moving, data dump of a flashback. For me, flashbacks tend to halt the progress of the narrative — as in, I hear the sound of screeching tires right before the thing hits an immovable concrete wall. For this reason, early on in my […]
