“You probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.”
— David Foster Wallace
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Posts Tagged ‘writing’
Stop Worrying
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, confidence, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on May 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Legend Reads Legend
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, alice-munro, Fiction, goals, inspiration, short stories, the greats, Writers, writing on May 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
You may have seen that Canadian author and Nobel laureate Alice Munro passed away this week. A prolific titan of the short story genre, she published her first story in 1950 and continued to produce award-winning work in the many decades since. When asked how she got started in short stories, she said it was because that’s all she had time for.
She certainly made it work.
Here, award-winning Canadian author Margaret Atwood reads Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro.
In this exclusive recording, The Handmaid’s Tale author reads the eponymous short story from the late Munro’s first collection in 1968.
If you’d like to read more of Munro’s work, here are 25 Alice Munro Stories You Can Read Online Right Now.
Enjoy!
“A story is not like a road to follow … it’s more like a house. You go inside and stay there for a while, wandering back and forth and settling where you like and discovering how the room and corridors relate to each other, how the world outside is altered by being viewed from these windows. And you, the visitor, the reader, are altered as well by being in this enclosed space, whether it is ample and easy or full of crooked turns, or sparsely or opulently furnished. You can go back again and again, and the house, the story, always contains more than you saw the last time. It also has a sturdy sense of itself of being built out of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you.”
― Alice Munro, Selected Stories
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Better than Ever
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Motivation, Thoughts, Writers, writing on May 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“I don’t believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be.”
— Ken Venturi
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Your Choice
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, quoteandaprettypicture, Thoughts, Writers, writing on May 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The point is, if you want to be happy, let go of your wants. If you want to be effective, harness them.
— Hank Green
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Color Me Impressed
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Fiction, inspiration, writer, Writers, writing on May 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »
You may remember that I’ve talked about NaNoWriMo, where intrepid writers challenge themselves to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. Professional writers often do much more than this (Dean Wesley Smith is a poster author for it), but I wouldn’t say it’s common. At all.
Now that AI is a thing, however, it’s easy to put many words in a line very fast. Not good words, mind you, but words.
I just ran across a reference to an author who has decided to embark on a writing challenge, pitting herself against AI.
Alberta author Alison McBain decided to do an “Author Vs AI” challenge. The goal? A well-written book a week for a total of two million words in 365 days. Dang.
She started a week or so ago and is posting daily word counts as she goes.
Here she is ramping up for the starting line: Three Days before Launch… Tips & Tricks to Writing Quickly
Here’s she is, taking off: TODAY Starts 2 MILLION+ Words in 365 days!
Of course, we aren’t really comparing apples to apples here. We’re comparing one person’s ability to convert their history, emotions and expertise into a coherent recipe for another person to experience, versus a predictive extrapolation of the collective yet selective distillation of humanity known as the internet, produced through many (many) hours of training and often poorly-paid drudgery.
(Trying to resist the obvious joke about it not being so different from writing after all, but also obviously failing. Even so.)
Writers write because they have something to say. They’re unable to shut up. They have a point of view. They put themselves through an emotional wringer to get it across, and sometimes lightning strikes and their work resonates with other people. — Ilona Andrews
I love that this writer has given herself a fun challenge, and frankly, she had me at “well-written.”
Color me impressed.
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Habits: On Making and Breaking
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, habits, poetry, Thoughts, Writers, writing on April 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Some habits are good, some not so much. How do you break a bad habit (just as a totally random example, like jumping straight into day job work instead of carving out a bit of time for creativity)?
It’s National Poetry Month, so here’s a poem on the subject. And while I don’t necessarily agree with the slightly depressing penultimate line (“unhelped, alone”), I do think the larger message is a good one: if you made it, you can break it.
Habit
How shall I a habit break?
As you did that habit make.
As you gathered, you must lose;
As you yielded, now refuse.
Thread by thread the strands we twist,
Till they bind us, neck and wrist;
Thread by thread the patient hand
Must untwine, ere free we stad;
As we builded, stone by stone,
We must toil unhelped, alone,
Till the wall is overthrown.
— John Boyle O’Reilly
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Do You Sci-Fi?
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #wotf39, genre fiction, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on April 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I looked at the calendar and realized that a year ago, I was fresh off the plane and joining my fellow Writers of the Future winners in Los Angeles. Sleep deprivation aside, the week-long workshop was a fascinating experience and one which opened connections to a great group of people. Meeting and learning from contest judges and other famous writers opened some amazing doors, of course, but joining a cohort of excellent new writers was also incredibly rewarding.
If you are an amateur writer or illustrator with an interest in science fiction or fantasy, consider entering Writers of the Future. It’s free and includes four submission windows per year. The next deadline is June 30, 2024; visit the above links for more detailed information.
Not sure you’re ready, or just want to learn more about how to write a good story? Check out the free online writing workshop, with videos from judges David Farland, Orson Scott Card, and Tim Powers.
Because the world needs more fantastic fiction.
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Sorry, Censor…
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, meh, Writers, writing on April 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Upon realizing that the day is passing by much later than I hoped:
My internal writing censor: You should be writing!
Me: I tried, I mean, I’ve been at the computer all day and everything!
Censor: Did you work on your day job and bills and that house project you need to sort out? Did you take a break for lunch? Did you do (pauses dramatically) multiple loads of laundry?!
Me: It’s true, I did all of those things.
Censor: And you say you tried.
So judgy! Sorry, Censor. Some days it just doesn’t happen, and that’s got to be ok.
Onward!
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Today in Tech
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, technical issues, Writers, writing on April 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
In“day’s Problms in Tech”Ii prreesent
In “Today’s Problem in Tech” I present severe yet intermittent keyboard lag. The above is an example of what I’m dealing with, so no writing for me until I find a way around this problem.
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Taxes and the (Not So) Grim Reaper
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #wotf39, boook birthdays, David Hankins, fantasy, genre fiction, humor, inspiration, release day, Writers, writing on April 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »
It’s that time again for Americans: Tax Day. Fun? Not really, although my taxes are done and I can rest easy knowing that I have contributed to the collective project that is civilization, and also won’t get a disturbing letter from the IRS.
It’s also a day when a lot of us could use more humor in our lives, which makes it a perfect excuse to promote my friend David Hankins’ new book, out today!
Death and the Taxman | Universal Book Links Help You Find Books at Your Favorite Store!
Allies are few and hijinks are many in this hilarious race against time as the Grim Reaper himself tries to cheat death and avoid an audit by Hell’s Auditor and the Office of Micromanagement.
After sharing an ill-advised cup of tea with IRS auditor Frank Totmann, Grim finds himself trapped in Frank’s life amid a world of dangers: love, betrayal, reckless cabbies, implacable demon hunters, and the incessant needs that keep his body ticking . . . for now.
David’s writing is terrific, and this book is based on his award-winning short story of the same name. It’s great to see humorous fantasy done so well. Want a sample of his writing? Preview a chapter here.
Because when it comes to taxes, who doesn’t appreciate a laugh?
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