Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
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- On Pyr-o-Mania: It’s the Characters, My Dear Watson • February 18, 2009
Today on Pyr-o-mania, the house blog of Pyr (publishers of my novels "Infoquake" and "MultiReal"), I've posted a little piece about the importance of good characters in fiction. I use as the jumping-off point my recent forays into reading the complete Sherlock Holmes stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
- The Purpose and Utility of Author Blogging • October 16, 2008
In which the author attempts to break his two-month-long silence on his blog by writing a semi-stream-of-conscious piece about his method and philosophy behind blogging.
- “MultiReal”: The First Drafts • August 2, 2008
I've published online the first drafts of "MultiReal" chapter 1, along with footnotes and commentary about each draft. Instead of posting all thirty-five drafts up on my website, I've chosen to simply post the best or most representative samples of the eight different directions I tried.
- On DeepGenre: Building Character(s) • May 30, 2008
On the group blog DeepGenre today, I tackle the question of building characters. Specifically, how do you build three-dimensional, believable characters in your stories? I compare building characters to the art of additive sculpture.
- Will the Novel Die? • March 17, 2008
I can’t find any current piece of journalism to use as a springboard for asking whether the novel will die. But considering that the question gets asked every 14 seconds somewhere on the blogosphere, I’m not going to worry. Just follow the trail of rent garments and gnashed teeth and you’ll find someone blathering about [...]
- How to Help Promote Your Favorite Author • February 13, 2008
We often latch on to the authors we love. We realize this is a tough business, and we don’t want them to starve. We want them fat and happy, sitting on cushions stuffed with hundred dollar bills. But what’s the best way to help them?
People who aren’t in the writing and publishing business often have [...]
- On DeepGenre: How to Write a Novel (Part 2) • January 21, 2008
This morning on DeepGenre, I’ve posted part 2 of my article on How to Write a Novel. (In case you missed it, here’s part 1.) This time I tackle how to get from your finished first draft to the final product. Excerpts:
Step 10: Get your first readers’ feedback, and listen to it. This is [...]
- On DeepGenre: How to Write a Novel (Part 1) • January 15, 2008
This morning on DeepGenre, I’ve posted a step-by-step guide to writing a novel. Or, at least, it’s a step-by-step guide to how I write a novel. Because every novelist who also blogs has to write at least one of these posts in their lifetime. Really, it’s in the union regulations.
Excerpts:
Step 2: Noodle around and figure [...]
- An Inside Look at the Copy Editing Process • December 13, 2007
If you're at all interested in the copy editing process that a novel goes through before it sees print, you might find this interesting. Here's a conversation I just had this morning with my copy editor, Deanna Hoak, about a sentence in my upcoming book "MultiReal."
- How Does the Story End? • October 21, 2007
On DeepGenre today: inspired by my thinking as I write the concluding volume of the Jump 225 trilogy, I’ve posted a meditation on how stories end, and why they end, and what the purpose of ending a story is in the first place. Using Batman as a metaphor, of course.
If you were to stand back [...]
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