My grandmother was a dressmaker. I’m not. She taught me how to sew, and I did sew because I liked having cool clothes. I still do like cool clothes, but I gave up sewing decades ago for the ease of … Continue reading
Tag Archives: process
After all these years, I’ve finally figured out my writing process. It goes something like this: Get a bit of inspiration. Write until it begins to take shape as a story. Sit on it a bit, read it, and then … Continue reading
Back when I was in high school, I had several English teachers who believed in outlines. On occasion, one of them would require us to turn in our outlines along with our finished papers. I am, by nature, a pantser. … Continue reading
Detective fiction writer Lawrence Block tells a wonderful story about how he was having all kinds of trouble writing a Bernie Rodenbarr novel because of the chaos at home. He rented a cabin at a writers’ retreat back East and … Continue reading
I was paging through the Sunday Sweets on Cakewrecks, looking at many cakes which are technically gorgeous but rarely raise my creative pulse. I can’t draw, so hand painting a cake to look like a Wedgwood canister is right out. … Continue reading
Screenplay is structure, they tell me. I tell them that it’s lucky I don’t write screenplays then, but this makes no difference, apparently. They tell me that even novelists need to be aware of the three-act structure, the need for … Continue reading
Famously, the internet is full of cats. Also – I am given to understand – pornography, but it’s the cats that I find, everywhere I look. Cats, and writers talking about their process. Sometimes I do that too, and I … Continue reading