Life
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Thoughts on Fiction: Storytelling
Welcome back to the continuing series of Thoughts on Fiction, where I dish out in some form or another exactly what the title says. Don’t take my words as scripture, as, with everything, what works for some doesn’t work for all. This is just a series of thoughts, ideas, and current perceptions about the act… Continue reading
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Such a Little Thing
Jeff was gone. He left, and the clouds came in, darkening the sky, the house, and my mood. It was midnight-dark. Black. All of it, and everything. It was the little things, I think—why he left. All those little things that go unspoken, but you can see them building in his eyes; feel them growing… Continue reading
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Thoughts on Fiction: Writing What You Know
The single, most used piece of writing advice ever, is write what you know. It’s good advice. It isn’t great advice, and I’d argue that there are much better (and much less vague) words of wisdom to bestow upon would-be writers. I’m sure I’ll touch on some of that in just a moment, but in… Continue reading
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Love Lost
This is the beginning of my next novel. It’s a little different than what I normally write. No fantasy this time. I kind of wanted to try to bridge the gap between literary fiction and genre fiction — focusing mostly on the characters, and what’s going on inside of them, but also giving enough of… Continue reading
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Thoughts of Fiction: Outlining
There’s generally two camps — both full of ravenous, blood-lusting, ax-wielding psychopaths — when it comes to the topic of outlines. Extreme camp 1 believes that outlining your novel before writing it somehow streamlines the process, making the victory of the battle to come, the battle of writing your novel, predestined, foreseen in the stars… Continue reading
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Thoughts on Fiction: Naysayers
Who here is afraid to tell someone that they write? One of those casual conversations comes up, always, where someone asks what you do, or what you want to do, or what your hobbies are, and you self-cringe at the thought of spouting off anything to do with writing. Why? It’s not like it’s dishonest… Continue reading
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Aspiring, they say?
To all of my fellow writers out there — especially the unpublished — I have some advice. Just like any advice, take it with a grain of salt. Kosher only, and add pepper. All of you writers — word-smiths , scribblers, even wordcount grinders — I have one wish for you. You all, are writers… Continue reading
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Thoughts on Fiction: Moods, Muses, and Moments.
There is a lot of information out there specifically intended for writers, and a lot of that information I’ve found to be misleading. It’s copy and pasted click-bait bullshit, posted by someone that doesn’t even write. These articles usually focus around a few key things. You know the ones, “What you have to do to… Continue reading
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Thoughts on Fiction: The Act of Writing
In the introduction to Stephen King’s fantastic book about writing, aptly titled, On Writing, he says something very interesting about writers, and I’ve since sort of latched onto it. He says that most writers don’t really understand a whole lot about what they do. Not why it works when it’s good, and why it doesn’t… Continue reading
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Thoughts on Fiction: Revision
So you’ve done it. You’ve finally written that last word. You’ve stamped down the last period like (insert name)’s very own golden seal of approval. You hold your manuscript up, clutching it in both hands, high into the sky, like a newborn baby you want to show the world. Well, I’ve got some news. That… Continue reading
The Depths
The Blank Page 