Yesterday, I wrote about the problem of flat scenes (not to be confused with flat screens) and how they can be very dull and boring. As I emoted about the dullness and boringness of flat scenes and planned to write about how to avoid them, the thought occurred to me that this might be a […]
I've been having issues with flat scenes. Flat scenes are problematic because you may not even know that they are flat. You have a vague notion that something is wrong with the scene or chapter. It is boring, or it just doesn't work for some reason. You struggle and struggle to improve them, to make […]
Christmas season has officially begun and even though I went to an awesome wine tasting and sale last night, it wasn’t at a mall or even a traditional store so thus I did not officially participate in Black Friday. I did, however, buy a handcrafted Christmas ornament and started getting in the spirit of the […]
It is Thanksgiving Eve here in the states and I, like so many others, have much to be thankful for. Health, family, a career I love, a house that isn’t going into foreclosure, new energy in the country after the elections….I could go on and on. Tonight is a night that many of us are […]
A few days ago I wrote a post about writing and running. Since then I've been staying in Laguna Beach and running the canyon. Okay, I run down and walk back up, but then so does nearly everyone else. It is a looong way back up. Yesterday as I hit the last and steepest hill […]
The Santa Anas are blowing and fires are erupting all over southern California where I am currently ensconced at the top of a canyon overlooking the Pacific. It is not quite as idyllic as it sounds, though I admit it is stunningly beautiful here, because I am here to care for a friend. Perhaps it […]
You have until November 16 (tons of time) to enter the contest over at Lexus magazine. How it works is simple. You submit a 1,000 word ending to the story, "In The Belly of the Beast," a serial novella that has been published on the site since April. A huge list of well-known writers have […]
Last week I wrote a blog post titled, When One is Born a Writer.., and listed some of the things that accrue from the condition of being wonderfully scarred at birth with the love of the word. I promised then that I would compile any additions people came up with, and let me tell you, […]
"Imagination is sacred and divine–I trust it implicitly." So said Andre Dubus III at his Wordstock reading last weekend. Dubus, best known for House of Sand and Fog, read from his latest novel, The Garden of Last Days, which was inspired by the Florida sojourns of the 9-11 hijackers. After he read from the book, […]
I've just taken up running. Well, my version of running, while I get used to it, which is more like run-walking: run a block, walk a block. Actually I'm up to running two blocks, then walking two blocks. What started all of this was an offhand comment from a friend. (Oddly enough, much of my […]
