As I near the end of a first draft on my first novel, I can't help but look back over all my other failed attempts. There was the vampire novel, which I started writing 12 or 13 years ago, in my early 20's. I got to about 30k words before Twilight gained popularity, and I …
Baby steps
The idea of writing a novel seems way too big when you think about it as a whole. But take baby steps, and you'll get there, one tiny shuffle forward at a time. Try not to think of it as a huge project. If you keep thinking you better watch that sword that's hanging over …
Stop avoiding confrontation
If someone is saying something you disagree with, speak up. Silence, or polite smiling and nodding, is equal to agreeing with them in their minds. Imagine you are going on about how awesome Nickleback is and everyone around you is either silent or nodding absently. You are going to assume your opinion is perfectly normal, …
Now
This moment, right now, is the only truth, the only reality. What I feel, think, and am experiencing in this instant is all that can be said to be real. Tomorrow, I won't remember this, or if I do it will be tinted by other thoughts, feelings, biases, distractions, just as all my other experiences have been before …
Multiple I’s
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is written in first person, from two viewpoints. I don't see how the two stories are related just yet, but I expect it will become clear. Writing two different characters from a first person point of view seems strange. I would be wondering, as a reader, if …
Jonas David 