If any workshoppers are checking in here — submissions are closed. I received nine mss. I will be getting in touch with participants this week. See you in a month!
Writing lessons and the writing life
If any workshoppers are checking in here — submissions are closed. I received nine mss. I will be getting in touch with participants this week. See you in a month!
Words: 0
Bad author, no cookie!
One of the dangers if you will of showing rather than telling, is that you can become mired in the action catalog. This is sentence after sentence that detail, often excruciatingly, what the protagonist is doing second by second.
Miranda hit the snooze button and went back to sleep. Ten minutes later [...]
Words: 850 (yesterday 1,375)
Music: None, unless you count the noise of the fan. Music to my ears, anyway
The project is almost finished. I estimate I am around 5,000 words from the end, maybe fewer. I will finish on schedule or as near to it as possible, and after I write the new story for the [...]
Words: 1,785
Music: Eklektikos on KUT. Austinites have a love-hate relationship with John Aielli. Luckily, he was on vacation today, and the replacement DJ is a lot less irksome. Note to Slaid Cleeves: While naming your new CD “Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away” shows you know your audience, I hope you provide us with one or two [...]
Watched A play ultimate frisbee underneath enormous cumulous clouds. Will it rain? We asked. There’s a 20 percent chance to 40 percent chance. The clouds looked fluffy, not dark. Took pictures with the new camera.
Left to drive to San Antonio for a birthday party. Drove down I-35 into the storms. Got a great lightning show [...]
When you take part in a writing workshop or writers group, you will often be told, “show, not tell.” So what does this mean? When you tell, you remove the reader from the action, characters, setting and plot, leaching the emotional reaction the reader has to your story.
When you show, you are writing in scene, [...]
Words: 1,800, Total: 60,800!
Music: Lucinda Williams, Essence
Email conversation between my friend V and me:
Vanita: [sends picture of guy with amazingly unattractive yet obviously lovingly attended facial hair)
Me: But….why? Just answer me that and I can die happy.
Vanita: I can NEVER figure out why some guys do that crap. We were talking about john magnie, one of [...]
Words: about 20.
I had a brainstorm, which meant revising the existing bit that I last wrote. So not much headway, but I know where I’m going now. A side effect of the speed writing.
So yeah, this blog thing. Sorry about that. Life, and stuff. We had friends over Friday, and then got invited to a friend’s [...]
Words: 1,096 About 57,500 total
Music: Raising Sand.
Just wanted to remind everyone that Red Gold Bridge comes out June 30. Reserve your copy today. I am pinning down book signings and will let you all know when I have those scheduled. Can’t wait!
I saw Star Trek today with my friend Renee. And it was fun. I need to see it again, because — and yes, I can’t go to the Alamo without having to rant about the Alamo. Look, I get it, I get that it’s cool, and they have food, but every time the server comes [...]
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