This is the second article in my series on Becoming a Professional Amateur — by which I mean simply that if you’re going to write and you’re a lover of writing (literally an amateur), you might as well be professional about … Continue reading
Sample scenario: Toyoshi’s voice came raggedly over the phone. “Riyoko is in trouble. She’s been casting spells at midnight to call forth a Wretched Demon and I’m pretty sure it’s working. One more spell and her soul will be completely … Continue reading
“Pleased to meet you,” the bartender said, shaking Jon’s hand. “You must be Jon Chandler. I think you ought to know that Colonel Mustard hired a man to sabotage your friend’s brakes. He’s a bad one, that Colonel.” The writer of … Continue reading
Baldric concocted a cunning plan to scare the killer lawn gnome into staying away from the cave entrance so he could sneak in. He then grabbed the magical hedge trimmers and scarpered off into the forest. Writers sometimes use expositional sentences like … Continue reading
For the aspiring writers among us, I offer this third blog in a workshop series on the craft of writing. Obviously you don’t have to do the exercises, ’cause nobody’s watching, but you might have fun with them. Sample sentence: … Continue reading
I’m running a Kickstarter for a new space opera–it’s right over here, it’s funded and in stretch goals, it’s ending on Sunday, come and play if you like. This is the fourth one I’ve done, and I thought I was … Continue reading
I had another blog topic planned, but then this post showed up on my daily feed, and I got to thinking. Here’s the meat of the post that got my little grey cells popping: I’m told, over and over, the … Continue reading
Good action, like good dialogue, moves. It’s not easy to write, in part because the writer is dealing with time—specifically, the time it takes for the reader to read the words, make sense of them, and visualize what they’re saying. Given … Continue reading
My annual stint in an online writers’ conference (the Catholic Writer’s Conference, of which I’ve been a non-Catholoic guest for the past several years) has me doing a chat workshop on writing dialogue and action. And, as often happens, this … Continue reading
I’m replaying one of my favorite posts on writing. Why? Well, in part because I’m juggling too many cats and in part because I’ve just had the issue come up in a book I’m reading. This is not an amateur’s … Continue reading
