Browsing All posts tagged under »being a writer«

Don’t Do It. For the Love of God. Save Yourselves.*

May 14, 2012 by

2

So last week I asked a couple of people to read a third person version of the first chapter of Wizards, to see how they felt about it. And received from one the most conflicted response I’ve ever had, and from the other a voice of passionate loathing for the new version. Apparently the first […]

I Only Have THIS Much Attention to Offer You. Delight Me.

May 11, 2012 by

2

So there’s this thing I do when I watch TV where I find myself picking up my laptop, without even thinking about it, and doing research. It’s a habit I developed during my thesis, I think. I didn’t have time to do anything, so when I did take a break I’d find myself compulsively using […]

Three Quarters of a Page Inconveniently Too Long

May 9, 2012 by

2

I am disappointed to discover that the first chapter of Path is three quarters of a page inconveniently too long. Too long for what, you say? Such a good question. Too long for the extremely precise requirements laid out by this conference I’m going to. Do they ask for a specific word count? Oh no. […]

The Writing Process in Pictures

May 7, 2012 by

5

Caris sent me this link on Friday and I snickered. Possibly more than was entirely reasonable, but I was a bit sleep deprived. Was. Am. Anyway. I think that my writing process is slightly more stream-lined though. It’s more like this: Then the cycle repeats. In the time I spent writing this post my brain helpfully pointed out […]

Why Must We Let Logic Rule Us, Anyway?

May 4, 2012 by

1

I just had this awesome dream, which would make a great story — except for the fact that it’s based on this kind of science that… isn’t. That and there were these major plot points that just don’t make sense to a waking mind. I woke up and got as far as, That was really… […]

Not Every Hero Can Introduce Himself: Hello, My Name is Inigo Montoya…*

May 3, 2012 by

3

I spent half an hour yesterday figuring out how to do something devious with one of my character’s names that is largely pointless, and will, in all likelihood, amuse only me. But it will amuse me continually whenever I’m working on this book. So I consider it time well spent. I spent ages figuring out […]

Diary of a Writer

April 24, 2012 by

0

Yesterday: I am editing this passage, which I have been having trouble getting to on account of its terribleness. And now as least I’m in it. But it’s still terrible. I think I’m going to have to go through it twice to get out all the terrible. It’s that terrible. Or, well, it’s that melodrama. Bleh. […]

Writing a Biography: Or, I Wish I Could Remember What I Did Last Year

April 19, 2012 by

3

And then I get to the part where they say, And wouldn’t you like to write us a biography? And I say very politely: No, not really. But, you know, I don’t think it was really a question. So I went and looked up what I wrote back when I was applying for my PhD […]

Submission Neurosis, Let Me Count the Ways…

April 17, 2012 by

8

Actually what bothers me most about the submission process and it’s accompanying string of rejections is not the fear that my work isn’t good enough (that’s a whole other anxiety train) but that my failure might be due to presenting the novel the wrong way. What if I’m just really terrible at writing query letters? […]

A Good Opening Scene is Worth a Cocktail in the Face

April 16, 2012 by

0

So I’m about thirty thousand words into Wizards and I finally got to the scene fragment that started the whole thing. Finally.* I’m really glad now that I didn’t decide to start the book there. I don’t think the scene would have had the same resonance without the context you get from the what comes […]

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