Category: On Writing

On Learning the Marvel Method

marvel-comic-logoLast summer I got an email from a friend who works in the video game field. She wanted to know if I’d be interested in talking to her boss about writing something. I said “sure,” and then this crazy adventure began.

Now, to be fair, this wasn’t the first time she’d contacted me about something like this nor the first time I’d said yes. The last time it happened we tried to make it work and, for a variety of reasons, it didn’t. No hard feelings, just wasn’t a good fit. Still, it was nice to be thought of again. So I sent her boss an email with all my bona fides and awaited his reply. Continue reading “On Learning the Marvel Method” →

So I’m doing something a little crazy

Badge makes me a writer I knew I needed something to kick my brain into gear so I thought I would take a page from SFWA Grandmaster Ray Bradbury.

Bradbury, when he was starting out, sat down to write a short story a week. This seemed like a good idea to me, something to get me practicing a little more. As we all know, I need to figure out ways to get myself motivated and I figured I could sit down and, one day a week, write a story. Continue reading “So I’m doing something a little crazy” →

Film thoughts…

scott-scripts-1725-1024x679As a writer, the one thing I know is: I can always learn more. And while I haven’t actively been in the film game for a long while now, I’ve been involved passively, offering notes and advice to varioud friends and students (many of whom have gone on to work professionally in the field!). Continue reading “Film thoughts…” →

How an X-Men writer inspired binge-worthy, character-driven TV from Buffy to Game of Thrones

Over at The Conversation, there’s a story called How an X-Men writer inspired binge-worthy, character-driven TV from Buffy to Game of Thrones. It’s an interesting piece and well worth the read, claiming that “our current golden age of TV storytelling is influenced by comic books, in particular, one writer: Chris Claremont pushed boundaries and gave audiences strong female leads and deeply involved dramas.” Continue reading “How an X-Men writer inspired binge-worthy, character-driven TV from Buffy to Game of Thrones” →

These Maps Reveal the Hidden Structures of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Books – Atlas Obscura

I’ve long been fascinated by Choose Your Own Adventure books. For a long time, I had, if not the complete run, almost all of them. I even have a few ideas to write and update them for the 21st century, but the structure of them has always been a mystery (despite some interesting articles on how to write them). Now, thanks to Atlas Obscura, that’s been sorted. With the article These Maps Reveal the Hidden Structures of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Books anyone can make sense of how these books are put together. Maybe in 2019, I’ll get around to writing one…or two.

November 1 – National Author’s Day

So evidently, today, November 1, is NATIONAL AUTHOR’S DAY. While I didn’t even know that was a thing, I’m totally down with celebrating it! So in honor of all my friends who are writers already and those who aspire. Those who are starting NaNoWriMo today and those who write daily, I salute you all! Continue reading “November 1 – National Author’s Day” →

7 Fake Words That Ended Up in the Dictionary | Mental Floss

I love words. I love etymologies and origins and how things got to mean what they mean today and how that has changed from what they meant yesterday or last week. Over at Mental Floss, they have this article, 7 Fake Words That Ended Up in the Dictionary, which now has me asking the obvious question: if a “fake word” ends up in the dictionary, does that not, by definition, make it a real word? And if so, can we bring these words into everyday parlance? If not, what’s to say that any word is “real?” Remember those lists of words we should “bring back?” Maybe those are fake, too?

Little-Known Punctuation Marks for National Punctuation Day | Mental Floss

Because sometimes periods, commas, colons, semi-colons, dashes, hyphens, apostrophes, question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks, brackets, parentheses, braces, and ellipses won’t do, here’s a list of Little-Known Punctuation Marks for National Punctuation Day thanks to Mental FlossMental Floss!

Photos of Abandoned Russia – The Atlantic

“For years, photographers have traveled across Russia finding and photographing intriguing ghost towns, empty Soviet factories, toppling houses, and crumbling churches.”

For me, though, it’s really more about just finding cool, funky, unique places to spark the imagination and speculate on what kind of stories could be set there.

Vintage Geek Culture — Top Misconceptions People Have about Pulp-Era…

You know I love me some science fiction. This post, over on the tumblr site Vintage Geek Culture, is a great dispelling of the “truths” of the pulp era. Like Chuck Wendig’s post about the “Sacred Cows of Writing Advice” and Dean Wesley Smith’s books on the myths of conventional and indie publishing, it’s great to see critical looks at the way we’ve always believed things to be.

While there is always a core to these “truths,” there’s also an equal number of examples which show there is more to it.

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The Slush Pile

black and white books education facts
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Many years ago, not long after I first moved to Los Angeles, I met a guy named Steve Boyett. We became friends and he introduced me to Jessie Horsting who, at that time, was the editor and publisher of Midnight Graffiti Magazine*. I was young and volunteered to work on the magazine, which should come back because it was amazing. My first job was to read slush. I told Boyett this one night while we were having a late night breakfast at some 24 hour diner.  Continue reading “The Slush Pile” →

Neil Gaiman on Why We Read and What Books Do for the Human Experience – Brain Pickings

So I posted this on Facebook, but it seems like it needs a more permanent home. Therefore, posting it here.

And while it’s true this is piece is focused on Gaiman, there are a number of really good links which are just as important to the truth of reading and storytelling that I wanted to keep it nearby. “Truth is not in what happens but in what it tells us about who we are.”

Source: Neil Gaiman on Why We Read and What Books Do for the Human Experience – Brain Pickings

On Writing Preparation

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“Writer’s Block” by Vincent Fink

So I’m in a bit of a quandary. I just finished a fairly massive writing project and waiting on notes but while working on it, I was hitting my goal of writing every day (one of my personal, accountability goals). Once it finished, though, I’ve skipped a day here and there, but I want to get back to it, and I want to write something for me, not something I have to write to fulfill someone else’s deadlines and content pools (Yes, I’ll still do that, but I like writing fiction).  Continue reading “On Writing Preparation” →