The last few days I have been rediscovering one of the basic truths every writer needs to know, remember and occasionally rediscover: Writing is fun. If it’s never fun, why the heck are you trying to write? It would be like a baseball player hating baseball. Remember it’s a game and you’re home free all.Continue reading “Look to your zest”
Category Archives: Creativity
As Good As His Word
I could see them — Jeep and Blaine standing tall against Venusian villains. Adam and Joy unraveling the puzzle. Hank and “Stella” taking on the thieves of alien tech. I even could still see Devin Green realizing the truth about Krayatura. I could see them all. What dastardly villain inside me was preventing me fromContinue reading “As Good As His Word”
Ten openings plus one
The copper dome above the courthouse had faded to green long ago, testament to the bare fact that new and shiny doesn’t last. The old writer resolved to fill his page with the first lines of 10 stories and quickly second-guessed himself – “It’s finishing that I need to work on, not beginning” – butContinue reading “Ten openings plus one”
Invocation
Are you there, Muse? It’s me, Warren. I straggled out of bed before light to see if we could have a chat. They say showing up is half the battle, but I think it’s more like three quarters, because I know for a fact that you’re not going to show up unless I do. SoContinue reading “Invocation”
Writers write
I got up early to write this morning — so I’d better start writing. It’s really that simple. (I said simple, not easy.) Over and over again, in the books that purport to tell the secrets of a successful writing career, I see the refrain. Writers write. Writers write. So … Writers: Write. The wordsContinue reading “Writers write”
Buzz cries out to live
A few years back, not that long ago, I poured out about 10 chapters of a story that remains unfinished, which I have dubbed “The Girl, The Alien, and Me” on my list of unfinished projects that I still hope to finish someday. The story stalled after the death of a character named Buzz, aContinue reading “Buzz cries out to live”
The would-be wordsmith’s nightmare
He cracked his knuckles and started writing, and his curiosity was piqued by the character who appeared on the page before him. “Ya think I’m some circus animal who can just pop out of nowhere and do my tricks, don’t ya?” said the curious being. It was an amazing sight. The voice sounded like aContinue reading “The would-be wordsmith’s nightmare”