Category: Favorite Posts
-
HAPPY DANCE!… Ohio 3 first draft finished at 89,556 words and 1828 for the day
Today was a good day. I had to delete one whole chapter, and I ended up writing about three times as many words as what shows, because of that giant chunk of deletion. But I landed the next to last chapter, and retrofitted the last chapter to fit the new stuff today. The last chapter…
-
Great Ohio words (1264) and Summer of Writing Fiction 2021 goes live today! SOFW DAY 1
Last week, the story hit some pretty rocky shoals, and I had to do a lot of backing and filling. Today… none of that. The backing and filling left me in a really good spot, and I found my characters and the conflict today the second I sat down, did a scene that started in…
-
A meal, a band, and a song about a guy who rescued a girl long ago and far away…
Today went well. 1,618 words for the day (which was a nice chunk over my objective)… and 35,505 for the book, so well past the first third… But much better than that, they went funnily, and passionately, and a bunch of pieces from the first two books and bits of this one came together in…
-
Just finished Book 2 (in first draft, but STILL…) 1455 words today, 93,419 total
Today’s words went well. I love the ending I got. I already know the revision on this one is going to be big — but everything in it now can wait until all five books are done in first draft. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to begin outlining the third book, using the process I’ve used…
-
Replay: The kid who asked me about being a writer, to whom I gave blunt, honest answers
I think this particular post needs to go into rotation somehow. A kid had a writing assignment from school, and while in general I will not answer “my teacher gave me homework, and I’m passing my homework on to you” requests, I did answer this one. I did not pull any punches. Did not glamorize…
-
Follow-up on my resignation from SFWA, with statement from SFWA’s president
Where this comes from: A new SFWA member happy to have qualified—who is also one of my writing students—contacted me privately to present misrepresentations of what I said here that were being presented in SFWA’s private forums. I will post MY first reply, the reply from SFWA President Steven Gould, and my definitive response: MY…
-
Sex, Gender, Deviation, and Science: What Is Normal…and the Path to Proving It
THE ORIGIN AND SUMMARY This discussion refers back to The Ten Normal Genders and the Seven Variations (link opens in new tab), and assumes that you have read it. If you haven’t, it’s long, but I’ve done my best to keep it clear and organized, and you’ll understand the reason for THIS post much more…
-
Beating the Publishing Odds
What are the odds of getting a book published professionally nowadays? I’ve read everywhere from one in 5000 to one in 12,000 to one in 100,000. They’re high. Not quite win-the-lottery odds, but high. You think you’re lucky enough to beat them? I do. Consider this. You are the product of 100% survivors. Since the…
-
“It’s beautiful”
Some moments define us—define a place and time, who we are to ourselves and to each other, what we are about. And those moments we hang onto desperately, because they come unexpectedly, they are so fleeting, and if lost, we lose a part of who we are with them. In the course of planning out…
-
The Power of Allegories
“A side note: I always thought Vincalis was an environmentalist allegory.” Good. I could have hoped for no better outcome than that you found your own meaning in it. I’m reminded of the lyrics of a song. You can’t always get what you want But sometimes …. you get what you need. Once upon a…