Tag: Writing

The Long Game

Guest post
by Jake Bible

I have to admit something which you really aren’t supposed to: I’m a really good poker player. Like really good. Good enough that I used to play online for hours a day and actually win. I won tournaments, sit and go tables, stakes tables.

At least until the tide turned. Online poker started getting flooded with rookies that played wild and didn’t have a clue how the game worked. They threw enough chaos into the mix that even my best moves would lose. You couldn’t bluff them because they were too stupid to be bluffed. You couldn’t bully them because they were too stupid to be bullied. All you could do was hope the luck of the cards would come your way on a showdown.

And I don’t play by luck. I don’t. So I quit playing poker online. Just cashed out and walked away. I mean, why sit for hours on end in front of a computer screen when you have no clue if there will be a pay off or not? Continue reading “The Long Game”

Writing From The Right Side Of The Heart

Source: CDC.gov

My recent absence from this site has a really good excuse: I was in the VA hospital for a month following open heart surgery (valve job) and ensuing complications. It’s nice to be back. Really nice, believe me. And I hope you won’t mind me sharing some writing insights occasioned by the perspective of a twelve hour trip into the Valley of the Shadow. There are lots of good ways and bad ways to wake up, but I’d suggest that it’s hard to beat cresting the surface of consciousness and coming to realize that you are in an ICU bed and sighing to yourself, “Made it!” Because it wasn’t a sure thing, and that statistical reality speaks to the only thing that really, truly, puts a life into perspective: that whole matter of ceasing to be alive. There will be some changes made.

And I don’t mean the kind of changes like my shiny new Unobtanium alloy aorta valve (with it’s requirement to take dangerous blood-thinning pills the rest of my life) or the snazzy $25,000 pacemaker setting my pulse at a nice even 70 bpm as long as the batteries last. Or even the MAZE procedure in which (SF writers will just love this) they used frozen gas and taser technology to create a maze of scars on the surface of my heart, thus raising a series of levies to channel the wildassed electrical fields into rhythmic channels, like the Corps of Engineers’ eternal struggle to tame the Mississippi. I’m not making that up. Maybe they were. But what I’m talking about here isn’t medical wildness, but a cold-eyed Horseman’s assessment of my so-called writing career. Continue reading “Writing From The Right Side Of The Heart”

Four Seasons In One Day

There is a song written by a kiwi band (Crowded House) called Four Seasons In One Day. It is so appropriate, especially for Aucklanders who seem to face varied weather on a constant basis. I guess that’s the price you pay for being a skinny country surrounded by water.

Anyway – I thought I would use the song title to lead into my discussion.

To me, writing works in seasons. You have your writing season, your publishing season, your marketing season and your social season. (There are probably more but I’m just going to stick with four for this analogy.) My favorite seasons by far are the writing and publishing ones. I love getting lost in a book. I wish I had more hours in the day to bury myself in my imagination and wander the worlds with my characters. I also love seeing the book come to life, finalizing the cover and, as much as I dislike blurb writing and formatting, it is cool see the book online or in paperback. Continue reading “Four Seasons In One Day”

Getting It Right – PoV for dummies

Point of View (PoV) is arguably the single most important skill in the storyteller’s armoury. Handled well, the story will benefit enormously; handled badly, the story will suffer enormously.

There are three basic storytelling PoVs: First Person, Second Person, and Third Person.

1. First Person PoV is when the writer tells the story through the eyes of the character, e.g.: “I waited at the checkout, but the person in front of me couldn’t make up their mind. If they didn’t hurry, I’d be late for my appointment.”

The main advantage is that the reader is as close as possible to the character’s feelings, and thus should become invested in the character’s story. The main disadvantage is that the writer is restricted to giving only the information which the First Person PoV character knows. Continue reading “Getting It Right – PoV for dummies”