Please forgive the long absence (well, its only been a week and a half or so. But that's an eon in blog years.) I have not been blogging for two good reasons: 1. I was out of town. 2. I have been having Thoughts, of a deep nature. Thoughts about what, you might ask? Well, […]
This is the third post in a series on scenes, and specifically, flat scenes. You can find part one of the series here, and part two, here. What is a flat scene? It is one in which the emotional tenor is the same all the way through. For instance your heroine may start out the […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
Several days ago, I wrote Part One of this post on distance in viewpoint. Rashly, at that moment, I promised a Part Two, complete with how-tos. The how-tos are the hard part, because as with all writing, they are difficult to explain and sometimes even more difficult to put into action. But sometimes not. But […]
I refer to the issue of distance in viewpoint. Yawn. Way to make a post fascinating, right? Excuse you while you lean your head back in your chair and take a wee nap. Once you've dozed for a minute, you might want to rouse yourself for this one, because it can make the difference between […]
