A job?

Is it just a fantasy? Could writing ever make ends meet? Sometimes I feel like money's got me crawling on the floor. The things we love rarely pay the rent, but we do them nonetheless. Don't quit your day dream. You should love what you do, not do what you love--bullshit. Can we manufacture passion? …

Finishing things

I feel as if I have a new super power, ever since finishing a draft of a novel. I can finish anything! Short story? Cake. Novella? Pie. Another novel? Doable. All it takes.. is starting. It's like I blinked and the sky moved ever so slightly, and now I can do things I couldn't before. Required …

Transitions? Forget about them

The obsession with transition negates a basic truth about writing, a magical truth. You can get anywhere from anywhere, always and almost instantly. - Verlyn Klinkenborg We've all been there: cold moon, dark sky, watching our minds disappear as we try to figure out how to get our character from point A to B. She's …

Clearing my mind

Before I get to work on cleaning up the novel I just finished, I think I'd do good to 'cleanse my palate' so to speak. So I'm aiming to write a couple short stories to take my mind off it. I am already halfway through one (I hope). There's nothing quite like the freedom of …

The power of good description

I'm still being awed by The Crimson Petal and the White. Even though there is not much going on as far as plot or intrigue goes, the characters are more than enough to keep me interested. It's not in the way they look, or the things they say or do--they are just so well described, …