Category Archives: writing process

Consciousness, the Grail, and the Writing Process

Posted on April 18, 2014 by

On Monday evening, I had the chance to attend a presentation entitled “Grail Mania,” by Diana Durham, which included a scene from her play about  Perceval’s meeting with the Fisher King and his vision of the grail.  Maybe you’re a … Continue reading →

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Sowing the Seeds of the Perfect End

Posted on June 19, 2013 by

I recently submitted a story to an online journal, and received some feedback from the editor, a couple of changes she wanted to see: first, the character’s motivation was unclear, second, the ending didn’t work. Well, motivation’s not too hard, … Continue reading →

Posted in books, character development, editing, fiction, revision, writing, writing process | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fantastic Beginnings: taking it slow, with Carol Berg

Posted on May 22, 2013 by

I have recently started reading Transformation, the first of the Book of Rai-kirah, by Carol Berg. I met the author on a panel about torturing your characters and recognized each other as kindred spirits. She’s actually the first person both … Continue reading →

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What’s in a Name? The Naming of Elisha

Posted on April 17, 2013 by

It has come to my attention from two different and equally interesting directions that some people are wondering about the name of my protagonist, Elisha Barber, specifically, his first name. Some folks have even wondered if it’s my name (it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in books, character development, Elisha Barber, etymology, fantasy, fiction, history, medieval, writing process | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Focus Groups Taking over the World!

Posted on April 10, 2013 by

This morning’s Wall Street Journal features an article entitled “Test-marketing a Modern Princess,” about how Disney Junior is developing their new Sofia the First television series. Yes, folks, these executives are sitting down with pre-schoolers, reading them storylines and filming … Continue reading →

Posted in books, essays, fiction, marketing, publishing, social media, Uncategorized, writing process | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Three-act Structure Eureka!

Posted on November 28, 2012 by

Okay, I’ve heard about the three-act structure for quite some time, from a variety of sources, and had it sketched out for me in at least one workshop.  Quite frankly, it didn’t seem all that relevant.  But I finally picked … Continue reading →

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Writer’s Blech

Posted on November 7, 2012 by

Over the weekend, I had a chance to talk with a writer-friend about one of the problems we all seem to face:  the moment we realize the work-in-progress (WIP) is, in fact, crap.  I think there is at least one … Continue reading →

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. . . From a Certain Point of View

Posted on September 26, 2012 by

Hands up everyone who immediately recognized the source of my title quote?  Okay, that was an easy one. In a post a couple weeks ago, I referenced the special difficulty of writing a book in a single point of view … Continue reading →

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When Revision Goes Too Far. . .

Posted on June 20, 2012 by

Just finished a fourth round of revision on the first book.  Empirically speaking, this sounds like too many rounds, to me–I’ve never been keen on revision.  (You may recall my method for revision which involves lots of beer and stomping around … Continue reading →

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Why Your Book Stalled at 100 pages

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

As I talk with other writers, (especially newbies) I often find they have a book (or several) stopped dead at about 100 pages or 25 to 30,000 words.  They have thrown up their hands in despair. This project which once … Continue reading →

Posted in fantasy, fiction, writing, writing advice, writing process | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments