Category Archives: writing

Books on Writing

I have a few favorite books on writing which I’d like to share. Links are to Amazon.com. This is my favorite, which I enjoy reading for itself as well as for what it teaches me: Steering the Craft: Exercises and … Continue reading

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Writing Goals

What are your goals for writing? I was thinking about this recently, and realized I needed to make some new goals. My first goal was sell a short story. I did quite a bit of that, all the while with … Continue reading

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For the Love of My Netbook

Whenever Timmy falls into a well, my netbook comes to fetch me…well, no. Not really. But sometimes I feel like my Acer Aspire One has saved from from a dreadful fate. For example, if I’m stuck in an airport, and … Continue reading

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The Obligatory Writing-Music Post

Writers often have a close relationship with music. Some write in silence, but those who write while music is playing are often very opinionated on what sort of music they choose, even to constructing playlists for particular novels. I’m a … Continue reading

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Reading For The Writer

One of the most important things I do as a writer is read. I don’t think it’s possible to become a writer unless you’re a reader first, and for most writers, reading is as integral to their development as writing … Continue reading

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Some Notes on Revising a Manuscript: Refining the Prose

Some Notes on Revising a Manuscript: Refining the Prose Refining the prose is best saved for last; you don’t want to spend time polishing something that will later be cut. If any words don’t support the plot or characterization or … Continue reading

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Some Notes on Revising a Manuscript: Coherence and Storytelling

Some Notes on Revising a Manuscript: Coherence and Storytelling On a first read of a completed manuscript, it’s a good time to check for overall coherence and storytelling. Check for skipped time and space. It helps the reader if you … Continue reading

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Gene Wolfe quote, from The Sword of the Lictor, and a lamp

The image accompanying this post is a lamp from a hotel room in which I stayed recently. It requires no further comment, I hope. I find this quote to be so very, very true: “I have noticed that in books … Continue reading

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The Art of Letting Go – Finishing the Novel

When is it time to stop working on a manuscript? I might as well say now, this post is going to be one of my least concrete. Last week, February 26, I turned in The Moonlight Mistress. I’d turned in … Continue reading

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Making Stories Stand Out

Be Different. Be. Different. I was talking about experimentation and difference in the last post. I think my attention to difference is one of the reasons I manage to sell stories consistently. Erotica stories, by their nature, are somewhat the … Continue reading

Posted in business of writing, short fiction, writing, writing craft | 4 Comments