12
07, 2012
Battling genre bias with the magic of an open mind
Reading books with dragons on the cover says something about a guy.
29
05, 2012
When it comes to writing, how much planning is too much?
If the first draft allows the writer to indulge in a carefree orgy of imagination, a Wild West of whimsy, and a devil-may-care series of experiments, then the editing process demands the writer to abstain, rein it in, and exorcise a host of demons.
1
05, 2012
In defense of the dabbler…or…why getting published might not be all it’s cracked up to be
In an earlier post, I defined a dabbler as someone who has yet to write one million words while simultaneously implying that the one million words benchmark might be less of a milestone than a state of mind.
24
04, 2012
Writing presents an endless series of gambles
I’m not a master poker player by any means, but while reading through the first draft of my latest novel, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Friday night card games from my high school days.
10
04, 2012
Friends and family of writers, beware
Joseph Epstein said, “Every writer is a thief, though some of us are more clever than others at disguising our robberies.” He was referring to minor counts of plagiarism—an apt description, a novel turn of phrase, a treatment of syntax that (with a minor tweak) we could pass off as our own brilliant invention. However, the thievery doesn’t end there.