I'm reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with my daughter, and as we've been through the previous two books as well I can't help notice the numerous adverbs J.K. Rowling uses. I don't have as much dislike for adverbs as some writers, but I think some restraint is definitely in order most of the… Continue reading Day 10: Adverbedly
Category: Writing
Leather-bound journals, solid-gold pens, walnut writing desks, premium beer, single-malt Scotch, filet mignon, French wine, Cuban cigars, fast cars, faster women, private jets, beach-front villas, luxury yachts, high-stakes gambling, death-defying feats, life and death situations—the daily life of a writer.
Day 9: Influences – Stephen King
It started as I was procrastinating, which is not surprising. I was supposed to be studying for my first exams in grade 9, so that makes it January 1985. I don't remember which exam at this distant remove. My parents had borrowed Stephen King's novel, Christine, from the library, and I found it in our… Continue reading Day 9: Influences – Stephen King
Snippet: field trip
The chopper flew above the forest, its shadow rising and falling with the contours of the tree tops. Right into the lion’s den, Nelson thought to himself. The hills dropped away revealing a small heart-shaped lake. Nelson looked at his assistant, Pung. “Nervous?” “Not with them along.” Pung inclined his head toward the two tanks… Continue reading Snippet: field trip
Day 8: Indecisiveness
One of the writing problems I'm trying to counter now is indecisiveness. There are so many possibilities each time I start to write a story that it starts to feel like playing an RPG. I start exploring the different paths that lead from different decisions and very quickly I have scenes and alternate scenes and… Continue reading Day 8: Indecisiveness
Day 7: making time
I'm married, have a full-time job, two kids and a home owner, so a lot of my time is already committed to domestic stuff. I'm no different than the vast majority of hobbyist writers in needing to carve time out of my schedule to write. Today is one of those occasions where due to domestic commitments… Continue reading Day 7: making time
Snippet: young lioness
Mayna loved her father’s stories. Listening to him was so much better than helping her mother scrub plates, wash laundry, or sweep floors. There were no girls in his stories though. Her father had laughed when she asked why. “Girls aren’t warriors,” he’d said. “Why not?” “It’s just the way it is. Women aren’t as strong… Continue reading Snippet: young lioness
Day 6: the damn muse
I'm not a huge believer in the muse as something you need to wait for before you write. In my limited experience, you need to write daily, and keep working to be ready. The muse will arrive when she does. For instance today at 3:30 a.m., when she shows up like some drunken coquette looking for… Continue reading Day 6: the damn muse
Snippet: Red-shirts
Ensign Ray Compton hurried into the transporter room and stumbled just a bit; enough to make Kirk look over from his conversation with Mr. Spock. Oh, damn! Compton looked around. Maybe Shea was right. Only five personnel were present in the room: Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and himself.
Day 5: fan fiction
I might be doing myself a disservice according to more experienced and successful authors, but I find writing fan fiction is a useful exercise. I can play in a ready-made universe I like, with characters I like. I can do this while developing my own ideas for universes of my own. It's practice. And these… Continue reading Day 5: fan fiction
Snippet: Jesus
"Fourth-floor Jesus got in a fistfight with Third-floor Jesus." He slumped on his stool and took the beer offered by the bartender. "And then our space ambassador, got into me about religion and how his world is sooo superior. That place is crazy."
Dispatches from Obscurity 