This past week has been kind of screwy. With the focus turning to Christmas shopping, I haven’t had as much time to post as I’d like. Nor have I been able to work up a story for the short short story contest that Writer’s Digest is sponsoring. Seeing as the deadline is tomorrow, I don’t [...]
Archive for November, 2007
Short Of My Goal
Posted in writing on November 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Sometimes “Now” Means “Then”
Posted in writing on November 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve noticed, while reading fiction that has a 3rd person past POV, that there are certain situations where the author uses a present-tense modifier. For example:
Looking over his shoulder, Randy stepped into the cafe and shivered. This place always gave him the creeps.
I would argue that in the example provided, the adjective this in the [...]
Who Likes Short Shorts?
Posted in writing on November 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
It’s time once again for that annual fall classic: the Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Contest, which is for stories of no more than 1500 words. I like this contest because I’ve enjoyed writing short-short stories for a long time and it legitimizes the format (in my mind, at least.) I try not to just [...]
Giving It Away – Part 2
Posted in The Writer, self-promotion on November 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
While I am still weighing the pros and cons of making my first novel freely available, I’ve found a tool that will help me if I decide to do so. Creative Commons has come up with a system that enables writers and other creative types to generate a custom license agreement and attach it to [...]
Giving It Away
Posted in The Writer, self-promotion on November 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
The October/November issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction has a column about science fiction writers who are giving away their novels. I am intrigued by this because my general understanding has always been that in order to make a living as a writer, one must get paid for the fruits of one’s labor. I’ve understood for [...]
Deniable Plausability
Posted in writing on November 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I watched 28 Weeks Later as part of my Halloween-inspired horror fest. It is, of course, the sequel to the awesome film 28 Days Later. I don’t want to give away the plot, but suffice to say that it delivered plenty of twists and surprises (and lots and lots of blood.)
One thing that bugged me [...]
OED
Posted in The Writer on November 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
A lot of my friends play video games. Lately it has seemed as if I’m the only person I know who doesn’t own an Xbox 360. Over the past couple months, Bioshock and Halo 3 are the only things I’ve heard about. Don’t get me wrong, I like video games, too. I grew up in [...]
