Posts Tagged ‘writing’
22 Rules for Storytelling
In lieu of anything significant from my pea brain today, how about a list from Emma Coates, the story artist at Pixar? 22 Rules for Storytelling Terrific advice there, including: "Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone." and…
Read MoreHow to deal with freeloading publishers: Look to ‘Goodfellas’
When I got started writing for newspapers and magazines, I did it for peanuts. Not literally legumes, but CDs. I was writing reviews for a tiny paper in Boston called The Beat, which was essentially done out of a basement and given away free in stores, and if I got a free CD out of…
Read MoreWaving with my hand, smiling with my mouth
We've all got evidence from somewhere in our childhoods that mom thought our artwork was awesome. Frame-worthy. My mom's particularly great at this kind of stuff: She has a framed picture of a hamburger I did in pastel in an art class — taken from an Arby's ad — hanging in her kitchen. I was…
Read MoreWhy writers write what they know, even if they don’t know they know it
Here's why I know anything about jazz, or Gaelic culture, or the criminal justice system: I wanted to write a book. Yes, NYU's continuing education program may have come in handy, a bit, on that latter one. But why would anyone bother to educate themselves on arcane knowledge just for the sake of a book?…
Read MoreType it, and the words will come. Trust me on this.
As I told M Sunday night around 12:15 am (so okay, it was early Sunday morning), it's easier than breaking rocks to get paid to cover the Oscars from the comfort of your own home office … but six hours in front of the TV and computer screen ain't for wusses, either. We got home…
Read MoreWhy writers need to keep their eyes on the road
Me, writer's group last night: "The hardest part of writing a book is figuring out how to do it." Much raucous laughter. The thing is, that's true, even if completely obvious. People always ask "where do you get your ideas"? Ideas, frankly, are like flowers at a botanical garden. Everybody's got ideas. That's one of…
Read MoreA big fat Stephen King novel? Thanks, I’ll have another
Right now, there's nothing I'd really rather be doing than reading my current book. (Okay, maybe something involving a hot fudge sundae and a white sandy beach while getting a backrub might come out on top.) But when you've gotten your hooks into a book that just makes you keep turning the pages until you…
Read MoreHow to get lost, on purpose, in your own head
Went hiking yesterday, did about 6 or 7 miles in very light patchy snow up towards Gertrude's Nose in the Mohunk Preserve. Went with a small group of people I didn't know and had some light conversation along the way, but mainly I like to go hiking to be in my own head, and I…
Read MoreSize doesn’t matter (or) how I sold a book to a total stranger
So what if you gave a reading and nobody came? Not the highlight of Arisia for me, but it happens. The programmers ask if you're an author, and if you are, they'll generally slate you in with a couple of other people to sit behind a table and read some of your work for 20…
Read MoreSomething for the weekend
Off to the Arisia con up in Boston this weekend; stop on by if you're in town. Will be doing a reading from some piece of fiction (not totally decided yet), moderating and appearing on panels and, if I'm very lucky, selling a few books at the Fantastic Books booth (thanks, Ian!) Yes, there will…
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