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I’d rather write than talk about writing
This is the weekend when the Arisia science fiction convention takes place in Boston. Back in the day, I was the guest of honor at the first Arisia. It was just about the last science fiction...
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Pull on a thread, unravel a subplot
My writing group sits by the fire, drinking Whale’s Tail and eating cashews. They have read my latest chapters, and it’s time to comment on them. They like them! That’s great, because the first...
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Not all my Nook reviews are drivel
After this post, I thought I should mention that Nook readers generally have very nice things to say about Dover Beach. Here’s the current “most helpful” review: The most satisfying read in a long...
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Who wouldn’t want to see Agatha Christie with her surfboard?
This was why the Internet was invented: photos of famous authors doing sports. Here is Ms. Christie at Waikiki in 1922. Dude! Some of the photographs are meh: Stephen King throwing out the first...
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Free will and good writing
I’m probably more interested in free will than you are, presumably for reasons I have no control over. I don’t believe in free will. Or, more precisely, I can figure out how it could possibly work. I...
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89,066 words, and done
With the first draft of my novel, anyway. Well, that’s a relief. The journey took a couple of unexpected detours, which means I ended up somewhere I hadn’t entirely anticipated. Which means I now get...
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The Distance Beacons: The president urges New England not to secede
In honor of Presidents Day: From The Distance Beacons, here is President Ann Kramer making a speech in Boston’s Government Center, trying to convince New Englanders to pass a referendum to stay part...
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The Hemingway app judges Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and me
Here’s a web site called Hemingway that judges prose according to these standards: Short sentences No passive voice No adverbs (it tells you to aim for “0 or fewer”, which suggests that it wants you to...
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Writers in movies: Their Own Desire
Another in a series. Their Own Desire is a 1929 movie starring Norma Shearer. Here’s the Wikipedia synopsis: A young woman is upset by the knowledge that her father is divorcing her mother in order to...
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Second draft
I’ve started work on the second draft of my novel. For me, the second draft is always more fun than the first draft — mainly because it goes much faster, since I have a better idea of where I’m...
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Writers in movies: Stuck in Love
Another in a random series. Stuck in Love is a pleasant indie movie from 2012 starring Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly. Here’s the IMDB summary: An acclaimed writer, his ex-wife, and their teenaged...
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Did I write that paragraph? Really?
I read my first drafts so you don’t have to. Those paragraphs I wrote last year seemed like a good idea at the time. But now that I’m starting in on my second draft and have a much clearer sense of...
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Writers in movies: Young Cassidy
In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, here’s an Irish writer in this occasional series. This time it’s Young Cassidy, the 1965 biopic of Irish playwright Sean O’Casey starring Rod Taylor, Maggie Smith, and...
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Writing as an act of faith
My friend Jeff Carver has a nice post up about writing as an act of faith, and how that faith was unexpectedly rewarded for him the other night. As he says, writing is an act of faith almost by...
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What does Barnes & Noble know about me?
I occasionally look at a liberal-leaning website called Talking Points Memo. It displays ads in the right column of their web page. One of them is for Barnes & Noble, and it features four books I...
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Keep it short, except when it needs to be long
Here’s a New York Times op-ed that spends 800 words or so extolling the virtues of brevity when it comes to writing. Except, of course, the author doesn’t really mean that. It’s only towards the end...
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Are missing apostrophes more important than dying teenagers?
We report, you decide. A bizarre battle is raging in towns across Britain between lovers of the English language and local councils that are culling the humble apostrophe from street signs. The...
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Do you write and tell?
The New York Times runs occasional pieces on writing in its Draft feature. They are of variable quality. The latest one, called “Not Telling” is pretty good. The writer, a novelist I’ve never heard...
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Let’s try another cover for Summit
In the “every cloud has a silver lining” department, my publisher has decided that the crisis in Ukraine might spark some interest in my cold-war psychic-espionage classical-music novel Summit, which...
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World building
Here’s a bland paragraph from the novel I’m working on: She was sitting on our patched brown Victorian sofa wearing her patched blue robe. Two glasses of cider and a plate of bread and cheese and...
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