Meditations on the writing process, writing tools, ruminations, and occasional postings of my own work.
The Value of Practicing in Public — Curiosity Never Killed the Writer:
And/or, as I said to myself: “Remember how, as a kid, you used to serialize all that fan-fiction on Prodigy? Wasn’t that silly?” Except for the part where people were actually reading the stories. And I actually finished them. And they actually got better as I went along.
Maybe I should give that another shot?
Oh by the way, I’ll be part of this reading on Saturday — 4pm at Quarterstaff Games in Burlington, VT. You should come!
Thomas McGuane with bits like:
People don’t really eat pizza in Montana. There are no secretaries here.
And:
I like writing that’s a bit more direct because I hope the subjects are difficult enough that they can supply all the indirection that I could possibly manage.
And also:
There comes a point where I have to declare a truce with the text or I’ll keep fooling with it forever.
Fascinating interview on NPR’s All Things Considered re: his new collection, Crow Fair. More than worth the 7 or so minutes. Go check it out.
“Writing the first sentence of a novel, for me, is something like filing, from a blank of metal, the key for a lock that doesn’t yet exist, in a door that doesn’t yet exist, set into a wall … An impossible thing, yet I find it must be done, or at least approximately done, else nothing will follow. The white wall (once of paper, now of pixels) will only open to the right key, or at least something approximating it, as I tend to keep filing, endlessly, through the ensuing composition.”
–
William Gibson, The First Sentence Is a Handshake (interview in The Atlantic)
And the rest is even better than that. But this quote here was a light bulb for me. In that moment, his words described the act of writing as something very familiar to me, but also something very alien and strange and brilliantly true.
A big thanks to Andrew, the team at Phoenix Books, and everyone else involved in making the Vermont Science Fiction event happen. And many more thanks to everyone that came out to support me and the other authors. It was fantastic group on both sides of the lectern, and a lot of fun for all. […]
If you missed it today on Facebook or Twitter or any of the other places this went: Geek Mountain State Presents Vermont Science Fiction We are pleased to announce that Geek Mountain State and Phoenix Books are teaming up for the third entry in the Vermont SF Writer’s Series, Vermont Science Fiction! This reading follows […]
The Only Writing Advice That Matters
In case you didn’t see it on any of my other social media venues: 1 I sold my first piece of fiction! “Where the Air Is Sweet and the Clouds Are a Different Shape” will appear in Please Do Not Remove, 2 which is being edited by Angela Palm and should be coming out in […]
In the past six years, I’ve participated in (and “won”) NaNoWriMo four times. 1 It has been frustrating, stressful, inspirational, enlightening, and fun each time. There is something special about these month-long events. If you do it “right”, and completely let go of your inhibitions–if you abandon the false presumption that your writing will be […]
In case you missed it elsewhere: 1.5 hours, +946 words becomes 3.5 hours, 3,021 words Plus… we call that a draft. I was closer than I thought to the end of my notes. And when I saw that, I decided to just put my head down, pour more whiskey, and finish. It certainly puts the […]