Tagged: writing (31)

This Is What I’m Up To

I believe I’m three quarters of the way through the first draft of my new novel. If I’m following the outline (which has become more like a well-thought out list of well-thought out suggestions rather than an actual set of, you know, instructions that I’m supposed to heed), then I’m three quarters of the way […]

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Here Be Monsters

As a writer, I’m very protective of first drafts. Or have been. For some writers, first drafts are throw-aways, warm-ups, and nothing more. I’ve read of some writers that literally throw away their first drafts and start over because now the story is inside them or something. These people are monsters. The first draft is […]

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Scenes From the Making of a Novel

What does it look like to write a book? It’s a stupid question. I wrote Waiting for the Man over a long period, in many different circumstances. Some drafts were written by hand. Some were done entirely on computer. I do most of my editing by hand as well, so I’d print out the latest […]

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Ceci N’est Pas Un Blog Post

This is not a blog post about anything. This is not a blog post about the unimaginable inanities taking place in Quebec, or Washington, DC, or Syria, or anywhere else. This is not a blog post about what makes a blog post and what makes an essay and whether or not the word blog is […]

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On Vacation

You go away with the stated intention of getting “recharged” and that’s just what you do. You get recharged. Recharging involves UNcharging in many ways, unplugging and finding a place off the grid so that all you do is read (and read and read – a bunch of my reviews of stuff I read is […]

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And Yet Another Installment in the March of the Novel (or Slow Cooking is the Best Cooking)

The slow (but steady) march toward publishing, as inexorable as a stream finding the ocean, forward. Editing. Done. Copy Editing. Done. First two rounds of drafts for the covers. Yes. (this is going to be a good looking book, I can tell you that, this is the designer’s website) And then there’s more waiting. Holy […]

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Another Instalment in the March of the Novel

Since we last spoke. Or I wrote and you read. Or, man, what is the correct nomenclature here? I went through edits with my editor. Twice. The second one took less than a few hours. This process started with a breathtakingly lovely letter from her. And it ended with me pressing “send” a few weeks […]

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In Between Days

I have started writing my next novel. I’m not making an announcement, just saying it, in a non grand way (well, why say it at all? you may ask and you would be right to ask it). But after a good six months – it’s more than that, but I’ve been rather single minded the […]

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The Thing You Should Never Ask A Writer

Writers get asked a lot of questions. Successful writers get asked a lot more questions. Very successful writers get to charge people for asking questions. And amazingly successful writers don’t have to answer any questions at all. All questions are valid, even dumb ones. Yes, there are stupid questions, and stupid people, and sometimes the […]

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Random Thoughts About Clouds, Dancing Writers, TV, Boomers, Beer and Serena’s Butt

Thoughts generally are random. That’s what makes them magical. Or at least interesting. The random nature of thought, or what some of us might call stream of consciousness, leads to the difficult brilliance of the likes of Joyce and Borges, or the hilarious (but studied) non-sequiturs of Family Guy’s Stewie Griffin. Wait. I think watching […]

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