Writers who can make a living wage from writing are far outnumbered by the ones who can’t. I’m one of the latter. While I’ve been getting paid to write things since the mid-1990s, I’ve never made enough that I could quit my day job and write full time. I have, however, been lucky enough to… Continue reading Finding balance
It’s Alive!
Yep, I'm still among the living. Life gets complicated on occasion...I'm sure you understand. I decided to take a break from social media and blogging for a bit so I could focus on some projects (see my previous post). And yes, I made progress. So, first things first, I've started the Prometheus Project Podcast. I… Continue reading It’s Alive!
Missing in Action
I've been off the radar for a few weeks now, avoiding social media in order to work on some of my neglected projects. I've gotten caught up now and am excited to announce that, in addition to my fiction writing, I've also started a podcast. The Prometheus Project Podcast is a venue I'll be using… Continue reading Missing in Action
Deep-Sea Sci-Fi
I can’t remember where I first heard about the Rifters Trilogy by Peter Watts. It may have been on a message board or one of the many reader/writer blogs I follow. I heard it was different, unique, not your regular science fiction plot. I filed the information away with the plan to pick up the… Continue reading Deep-Sea Sci-Fi
Gestation
Ideas for stories come in all shapes and sizes. There are times when a story pops into my head almost fully formed. They’re rare, but it happens. It's usually when I’m drifting off to sleep at night and I have to force myself to turn on the lamp next to my side of the bed,… Continue reading Gestation
And now the second chapter…
I've now started work on rewriting the second chapter of my novel. The first chapter went better than I expected, so I feel like I have momentum behind me. My concern was having a strong opening to the story, something that would draw the reader in, get them interested, make them want to know more.… Continue reading And now the second chapter…
Talking about dialogue
Arguably one of the most difficult aspects of writing fiction is creating realistic dialogue. The problem lies in the fact that everyone speaks differently, with subtle nuances like slang, pronunciation, and accents. It’s easy enough to pick up on these things when you’re listening to someone speak. In writing, however, it’s difficult to convey those… Continue reading Talking about dialogue
Novel Update
I’m working on the second draft of my first novel and, well, I’m making progress. Slow progress, but progress. I’ve been working on the first chapter for about a week now, trying to get it just right. The first chapter is where the first impression is made and I want to make sure I pull… Continue reading Novel Update
A different kind of beast
I’m working on the second draft of my novel and I’m finding it…challenging. This is my first long-form story and it’s much different from the short story format. The first draft took a few months, but it went better than I expected. I created a rough outline of each chapter, a character list to keep… Continue reading A different kind of beast
Inspiration – Music
I’ve previously written about listening to music when writing, but for this post I want to write about music as inspiration. I think most people use music as background noise when going about their daily lives, or as a distraction when doing something boring – like driving to work, toiling away in the office cubicles,… Continue reading Inspiration – Music