Once upon a time there was this place. No one could reach the princess when she was there, so she went there often. It wasn’t that she didn’t love being a princess or serving her people; she just liked to be alone in her quiet place sometimes. It helped her think, it helped her rest,Continue reading “The Princess and the Pie”
Category Archives: Writing
Got yer attention yet?
You have only seconds to convince the reader to pay attention. In those few seconds you must answer these two questions, or the reader will go no further. 1. Why is this important? 2. Why should I care? Answer these two questions and own the world. It makes no difference if you’re writing or tellingContinue reading “Got yer attention yet?”
The man who crossed Whimsy Avenue
A man was walking along, deep in thought, lost in worries about this and that and another thing, when suddenly he realized he had stumbled into a wonderland. Everything was bright colors and magic buses and this can’t be real, but it was real enough and whimsically nonsensical. “You there!” cried a friendly enough lookingContinue reading “The man who crossed Whimsy Avenue”
Smacked in the face while getting by
I’m re-reading The Write Attitude by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, a collection of blog posts she wrote about the difference between a professional writer and a wannabe writer. Chapter 4, “Getting By,” smacked me in the face, in a good way. She writes about a job, early in her career, where she found she was ableContinue reading “Smacked in the face while getting by”
When reality blocks out once upon a time
I tried starting this entry “It was the morning of June 17, 2054,” and continuing from there, just to make it clear I was attempting fiction. On that day 31 years from now, this body — wherever it is and in what condition — will be 101 years and nearly three months old, and whereContinue reading “When reality blocks out once upon a time”
In which I back up the Jeep
So — Have you noticed how often people start telling a story with the word “so”? Do people realize the word isn’t necessary? So I moved the scenes that I’ve deleted (for now) from Jeep Thompson and the Lost Prince of Venus to a separate place outside the main manuscript (It’s easy to do stuffContinue reading “In which I back up the Jeep”
Tap the wells of passion
Write what you love, the teacher says. Write what you know. That’s good advice as far as it goes. Something can also be said about writing what you hate. Andrea Latzko went to the Great War and came back broken, physically, mentally and spiritually. His Men in War is harrowing a century later. Dalton TrumboContinue reading “Tap the wells of passion”