Tag Archives: writing advice

Becoming Superman

“Style was the clothes; voice was the body. The instant I hit that realization I felt a circuit close inside me, switching on an engine in my brain. Suddenly all the little unrelated things I knew about writing (or brashly … Continue reading

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January is this time of the year…

It has been four years since I (self-)published my novel, Initial Conditions, in January 2015. I began writing a second, unrelated story, in the spring of that year. It progressed very little until NaNoWriMo in November. In January 2016, I … Continue reading

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What makes a good book?

“What do you think makes for a ‘good’ book?… Is it too subjective to define or are there specific and universal elements that make up a ‘good’ book? How can you pull the reader in rather than push them away?” … Continue reading

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NaNoWriMo and a dreadful first-draft

“Stories are relics, part of an undiscovered pre-existing world. The writer’s job is to use the tools in his or her toolbox to get as much of each one out of the ground intact as possible. Sometimes the fossil you … Continue reading

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Publish or Perish – academia and self-publishing

“He published frantically while he was a post-doc and junior faculty…” From Initial Conditions When Danielle, the protagonist of Initial Conditions, wants to work on the recently-discovered dark energy, her new boss dissuades her, noting that “in a post-doctorate, you … Continue reading

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When does a hobbyist become a professional writer?

“You seem to want to write, so write… Even if only the people in your writing group read your memoirs or stories or novel, even if you only wrote your story so that one day your children would know what … Continue reading

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