Once upon a time, when I was a Book View Cafe newbie, full of vim and vigor, energy and excitement, I started a series on this blog — the Author’s Alphabet. Alas, I over-estimated my time commitments elsewhere, and the … Continue reading
Tag Archives: the craft of writing
This has been a week from hell, which means it’s time for a Horseblog Classic. We are celebrating the anniversary of this blog’s adventure with another vet adventure, a couple of severe colics. One horse got over it quickly and … Continue reading
Ursula LeGuin has said that the writer’s job is to “put into words what cannot be put into words.” Writers of fiction—mainstream, horror, magic realism and fantasy as well as science fiction—have cheerfully (or not so cheerfully) accepted this job … Continue reading
I’m always fascinated by the different ways in which people and animals make their way in the world: they learn differently, think differently, and if they’re human, write differently. And it’s all good. For me, though I earn my living … Continue reading
This is a slightly edited reprint of an article I wrote way back in 2010, but I hope the information herein is timeless. 🙂 Okay, so now you’re ready to write. Your butt’s in the chair, your fingers are poised … Continue reading
Book View Cafe members Leah Cutter, Vonda N. McIntyre, and Judith Tarr are part of the “Write Stuff” Storybundle, which runs from May 13th through June 4th. Here’s what it’s all about, from bundle curator Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Writers need … Continue reading
Our culture tends toward the frenetic. Gotta go-go-go, gotta do-do-do. Everything has to be about something, for something, in aid of something. Even sitting and meditating is a thing you do, not an opportunity to just be. Writers can tie … Continue reading
Somewhat ironically as I write this, from here in the Upper Bajada of the Sonoran Desert, it’s grey, cool, and cloudy, and the rain teases us from the south and west. But in a day or two it will be … 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
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