Tales have often told of the great power behind our names and that giving someone your name can allow them mastery over you. J.K. Rowling’s villain is only referred to as You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, for fear the mere mention of his name, Voldemort, would bring his wrath. It’s no wonder then, as writer’s we often […]
Category > Process
Write What You Don’t Know
On the surface, you’d think that writing what you *don’t* know should come naturally to authors of specfic. I mean, how much does anyone really know about what it feels like to face a Hound of Tindalos, or to download an assassin’s persona into your brain, or to have your body transformed by the effects […]
Maintaining a Willingness to Learn
This is a post on editing, rewriting, and being willing to take a critique, and I fear that writers recently edited by me will think this post is about, or aimed at, them. It’s not. Well, mostly not. It’s about my own journey as a writer; the most important lesson I’ve learned from being critiqued […]
Novel Revisions: Sharing the Pain
I’m no expert on producing novels, but I’m finding ways to survive it, including sharing my pain as therapy for myself, as well as hoping it will help ease the pain for others. This is only the second novel I’ve worked on, but I’ve made it all the way to a fifth draft. I did […]
Writer’s Toolkit: Tarot Cards
This post started a couple weeks ago when I twittered that I was pulling tarot cards for a flash fiction story I was working on. It sparked a discussion and several people wanted to know more how about how I was using tarot cards in my writing process. The most interesting characters are flawed. They […]
OMG, did you check out her encyclopedia?!
My first novel attempt was just a trainwreck, like most of them are. I changed so many things that I finally gave up and never finished. The second one was marginally better. The third one? Oh, I tracked that thing to death. I tracked details so well I burned out on details, and decided to […]
Guest Post by Susan Forest: Inspirational vs. Mechanical Writing
Today’s guest post is by Susan Forest, editor and award nominated science fiction, fantasy, and horror writer. Thank you, Susan!  Ever write in “flow?” Oh, to be transported to that other world, to live there, to have the words pour unconsciously onto the page, coming from some deep, hidden well of the soul. That is a […]
Creationism vs. Evolution as Metaphors for Writing
Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. Â – Samuel Beckett There are all kinds of cultural narratives that address our place as tiny creatures in this vast and cold universe. One popular story says–and I’m reaching waaay back to my days as a Mormon missionary here–that we humans are the […]
The Author’s Voice
The Author’s Voice I recently read “The Fire in Fiction†by Donald Maass (Founder and President of the Donald Maass Literary Agency) and in one chapter he discusses the voice of your novel, something that new authors often struggle with. Donald Maass has this advice to writers: “It is when the words on the page demand […]
Resolution: organization
Hellooooooo! Welcome to the new year. If you’re like me, you’ve made some resolutions (you, ten pounds–you’re going down!). If you’re a writing type–also, like me–you’re getting ducks in a row, setting goals and starting new projects. And if you live in the real world (don’t look at me, I just rent on this planet), […]
