Commercial Fiction vs. Literature |
The local writer who hates my guts has indirectly mentioned me again in one of her recent diatribes. I love that she is so intimidated by me, and by the fact that I have two college degrees to her non...
Posted by on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:29:00 GMT |
Viva la Mouse |
My cat Squeak is quite the hunter, and earlier in the week she successfully wounded a field mouse. The poor, frightened critter sought refuge under the chair in my front room. Bright an early Thursd...
Posted by on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:04:00 GMT |
The "Structure" of a Writer's Day |
I recently visited a school to talk about being a writer. These were high school kids, who normally intimidate the snot out of me, but the two groups I spoke to were awesome and I had a terrific time...
Posted by on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:42:00 GMT |
Contrived Dialog |
In recent days Ive encountered several episodes of dialog that was written to serve some secondary purpose. The purpose of dialog - at least in my understanding and use of it - is to allow the chara...
Posted by on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:21:00 GMT |
Seething at Technology |
Yes, I know: Ive been on this rant before.Technology is becoming the bane of my existence. I acknowledge that I am more than a bit sleep deprived at the moment. I further acknowledge that as a direc...
Posted by on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:53:00 GMT |
Desire vs. Motivation |
Much like the discussion of talent vs. hard work, the topic of desire vs. motivation is one that many writers debate. Which is the more important, they ask. Can you create desire? Can you find motiva...
Posted by on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:10:00 GMT |
Patchwork |
Ive mentioned before that I view myself as a collection of various pieces and parts. Who I am now is a patchwork of all my experiences; all the joyous memories, all the painful experiences, all the ...
Posted by on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:26:00 GMT |
Me: Writer, Teacher, Mouse Catcher |
We seem to have a mouse problem. Mice appear to like my garage and my kitchen. In the past week Ive had two, or possibly three little furry visitors. One, unfortunately, my cat found for me. Bles...
Posted by on Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:02:00 GMT |
All I Can Write Is Sh**! |
Every writer, at some point or another, experiences this feeling: after working for hours on the same piece, over and over, he or she looks at the page and thinks (or screams out loud with frustration...
Posted by on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:38:00 GMT |
A Practical Look at Sentences |
Ive been teaching in higher education settings for more than a dozen years now, and Ive done my own very unscientific research on the topic of sentences. There are four basic sentence structures in...
Posted by on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:55:00 GMT |
