February 13, 2016

Empty: a metaphor It’s a one-word-in-front-of-the-other night. I don’t see the light at the end, but I know if I just keep typing, words will keep dropping down in front of me. This always works, yet I have not been applying this highly reliable rule in my life. Sit down, turn on computer, double click…

November 18, 2015

Health in all its dimensions. I am a firm believer that being healthy leads to all sorts of benefits. As a writer, I especially want to do the things that add quality to my writing.  The more healthy I am, the better I think, write, plan, organize, and step into another person’s (replace with character’s)…

October 1, 2015

Poorly written stories make for a blurry book, lacking color Lately, due to my lighter teaching schedule, I have been reading a book a week, minimum. (Last year, a book every two months was my average.) Usually I will read a book to the end, waiting for it to redeem itself if it is less…

September 9, 2015

Just let me learn Writers learn all the time. We want not just our facts as close to accurate as possible, poetic license not withstanding, but we are always looking for inspiration. So we cannot help but be active learners. And we do it like this. We go looking for what kind of pine trees…

August 26, 2015

I love reading about the creative process. So many things effect the act of creation. There is place, time, deadlines, atmosphere, and a sense of purpose. But a recent article covered the idea that emotion has an effect on results and even on what area of creation the artist should focus on based on that…

August 13, 2015

We fiction writers attempt to create authentic character experience, largely from events we have never experienced. Of course, we often draw from memories to bring verisimilitude to our writing, but just as often, if not more so, we write of things we have never seen, touched, emotionally felt or responded to. Writers attempt to create…