I turned 40 this week (pipe down, I’m not fishing for B-day wishes, just pointing it out). In the grand tradition of turning the Big Four…Oh, it seemed like time to take stock, and to assemble a sort of personal inventory of the things I think I know about myself by this advanced age. The things I know about myself as a writer and reader, I mean. Who the heck wants to go down that dark path of a full-blown personal inventory, with the scratching trees and the slippery mud and what not? Continue reading “A Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man.”
Tag: Writing
Ed’s Casual Friday: Margaret Atwood on Time.
So why would I just reproduce a long poem by Margaret Atwood – Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” – in lieu of writing a whole new column on this Ed’s Casual Friday?
Well, first, because I’m a slacker at heart. But second, because I think it speaks to an issue that relatively few writers take into consideration whenever the inevitable “Trad vs. Indie” discussion comes up. Here is the thing all new writers should know: In the day-to-day life of a writer, Trad vs. Indie is a false distinction. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: Margaret Atwood on Time.”
Ed’s Casual Friday: Seize the moment.
Carpe occasio.
There are a lot of good moments as a writer, stretched out over the course of writing (and hopefully, selling) a book. Maybe a line of description that you write which surprises you. Maybe something a character “says” that you could swear they did say, while your presence as a writer above the page or in front of the screen was just that: A presence. Like you watched it happen, without doing it yourself. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: Seize the moment.”
And Miles to Go Before I Sleep
I’ve often wondered how people know in advance how long they want their novels to be. I see occasional posts on Facebook that read something like, “Only 10,074 more words till I reach the end of my WIP!!! SQUEE!!!”
How do people figure out in advance how long they want their books to be? My brain just does not work that way. Probably because some sort of math would be involved.
I’ve also read stories about a publisher sending a manuscript back to an author with a note directing the author to add 15,000 words. I can only suppose this is how we end up with books that contain long passages in which the author describes in exquisite detail the flocking on the wallpaper in a room. In the same position, I might be tempted to add “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” 1500 times. Continue reading “And Miles to Go Before I Sleep”