A follow up to an earlier post July 30, 2009

Way back here, I declared my allegience in the low-grade theater of the usage wars over the proper use of the word “blog.” It bugs me to hear people say they going to “blog about” some issue that concerns them. It bugs me even more when people say (or write) that they “wrote a blog” [...]

On Fiction July 29, 2009

I’ve been making some interesting explorations in the blog On Fiction, which is comprised of a group of scholars working to develop a psychology of fiction. Their blog is a thoughtful, educated attempt at understanding how fiction works from the perspective of both the writer and the reader. (I like to think of it as [...]

My new narrator — I haven’t met him yet July 27, 2009

I’ve mentioned here a few times that I will rewrite my current work in progress, The Sleep of Reason, with a third-person narrator. It will make for a much better story, but I don’t know who that narrator is going to be yet.
I’ve also mentioned here a few times (most notably here) that a careful [...]

Chapter Eighteen is completed! July 25, 2009

And none too soon either. I’ve been struggling with this chapter for weeks — far too long. In my efforts, I found that I needed to move a great deal of the protagonist’s dread realizations to the next chapter. I had gone back and forth about it, thinking that I didn’t have the material for [...]

Interstices of my reading July 21, 2009

There was a time when I always had to be reading a novel. I had to have at least one novel I was currently reading, and often, as soon as I finished one, I would literally take up another and start it. At the very least, I would have a shelf of novels ready for [...]

It’s not showing off if you’re good July 18, 2009

I remember reading long ago that those who read exclusively for plot are something like those who can only enjoy very spicy foods. Hot plots and spices can certainly deliver, but there are all sorts of satisfying subtleties that can be missed as a result.
I’ve been seeing some discussion in some blogs lately by writers [...]

Chapter 18 stumbles along July 15, 2009

I’m still making what I consider satisfactory progress on Chapter 18 of my novel-in-progress. My biggest complaint is the lack of decent writing opportunities, but I think I’ll turn the corner on that problem pretty soon.
In my notes for this chapter I have something to the effect that “then the protagonist has a realization.” Seemed [...]

Those early years July 13, 2009

Young adult author (as opposed to young-adult author or even young, adult author) J.M. Reep has written a series of posts about his very earliest to his most recent years as a writer. In it he gives accounts of his writing interests and motivations over time, tracking his drive and output as it waxed and [...]

Ron Carlson Writes a Story July 10, 2009

In my brief career as a book editor, one of our key titles at the time was a diet book. When I was doing background research on the subject, I learned that each of the hundreds of diet plans works for only about five percent of the people who attempt to follow it. The trick, [...]

Google Documents – An Update July 9, 2009

Some months ago I wrote here about my plan to begin using Google Documents as an offsite storage mechanism and my thought to use it as a sort of experimental creative writing site.
I haven’t made extensive use of it, but I have continued to dabble in it. I’m keeping notes for several story ideas and [...]