I had my first experience in writing a story for a small child this January. A dear friend’s child had his third birthday, and I decided to make him a picture book as a present, as evidenced by the pic on the left. Little did I know what I was in for! I mean, I […]
discussing the craft
My writing in 2013 – and my hopes for 2014
In a moment I’m going to get down to some actual writing – there has to be proper writing on the first day of a new year! But first, a round-up of 2013 and some writing goals/wishes for 2014. I thought I’d do a list of the writing I’ve done this year. It’s difficult to […]
Nanowrimo: This feels different
It’s really weird not to be writing a feverish 50K this November. But I still think it’s a good decision to forgo a new zero draft this year – there’s so much work to do with Dim Vanities. Also, I’ve had a bit of a cold and am insanely tired, so yeah. Being merciful to […]
Nanowrimo: Preparing for the editing process
Firstly, let’s reveal the working title of the novel I’ll be editing this Nanowrimo: Dim Vanities. The name is from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem ‘Tamerlane’: Dim, vanities of dreams by night — And dimmer nothings which were real — (Shadows — and a more shadowy light!) Dim Vanities is the name I randomly came up […]
Nanowrimo: The Rebellion
So, it’s nearing the end of October, and we all know what that means: Nanowrimo is right around the corner! This will be my sixth year of doing Nano – even though this year, I’m not going to do it the traditional way. But November would feel empty without a big writing project! Thus, I’ve […]
Humbling experiences
A wonderful thing: when you finish reading a poem intended to be funny, and the whole room bursts out into loud, genuine laughter. At my writers’ group meeting today I read that poem I edited yesterday (it’s about a demon bus driver… in a way). It was intended to be a funny piece – but […]
Whinging and worldbuilding
The pressure to come up with a brilliant post after a long time of not posting: I have it. So, I’ll just get this out, sans brilliance, but posted at least! I haven’t been writing too much recently. In the past month, I’ve written just a couple of poems and such – oh, and my […]
Short stories: the challenges of brevity
I edited and sent off a short story today. Exciting! I should really write more shorts. The trouble is, I often tend to go for expansive stuff rather than the knife-sharp and short stuff… I’ve been thinking I should practise writing flash fiction to hone my short-writing skills. Was inspired by this piece in The […]
Sunday recs: On the problematic sides of grimdark
Evening, gentle readers! It’s been a rollercoaster weekend; I haven’t got any creative writing done, which is egregious. Ah well, at least today I had a very productive café session with a dear friend: I worked on an article I’m writing related to my MA thesis. Oh how I enjoy crafting academic text! Anyway, links! […]
Beginnings and endings
Today I read two blog posts on writing, and the topics fit so nicely around one another, ouroboros-like, that I thought I’d post my own thoughts inspired by them. The first post, by Terri Windling, is on beginnings. The second, by Carrie Ryan (blogging at the awesome Magical Words), is on endings. Windling’s post is […]