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…
Month: February 2019
Is Bad Fiction Good?
The consensus opinion is that in order to be a good fiction writer I must read well-written fiction. The idea is that I’m exposing myself to the best and should, in turn, absorb some positive influence from it, making me a better writer. Sure, I can see that to a…
The Solitary Writer
I realize I’m showing my age with this post, but I feel the need to comment on how things have changed for writers. Previously, I wrote about how much easier it is now to find and submit to magazines and journals than it was twenty-five years ago. What occurred to…
The Cold Open
What’s more important, a strong first line or a strong first paragraph? I posed this question on Twitter the other day and received an amazing number of responses (and retweets). There were a variety of replies, but the consensus opinion was that a strong opening paragraph was more important. I…
Writer’s Guilt
Confession time – I feel guilty when I have some free time and don’t spend it writing. It’s strange because I love to write, I need to write, but there are some moments when I simply want to unplug my brain and do something else. Usually, it’s something unproductive, like…
Why I Write
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been writing stories and poems for as long as I can remember. I started in early childhood, inspired by song lyrics and the wide variety of books handed down to me by much older family members. As I grew older I began keeping a journal,…
Publishing
I’m amazed at how much publishing has changed over the past decade or two. When I was first becoming serious about being a writer, I would spend hours looking for magazines to submit my work to. This was at the very beginnings of the internet as we now know it….
Humble brag
My short story, “Reflections in Blue Water”, was just published at the Blue Lake Review. This is probably the most mainstream story I’ve written, but I’m proud of it. Enjoy! RB