This weekend I attended the New Letters Writing Conference at UMKC as a noncredit "student". After having just attended both the RT Booklovers Convention and the writing panels at KC, MO's ConquesT 44 science fiction convention, this very-much-more-structured and heavily literary conference was something of a... um... well, completely and utterly different world, lol - although it ended up being just as helpful and informational. But I'll get into that in another post. The purpose of this ... View Post
11 Most Important Revelations for My Writing Life (and Sanity)
You don't have to tell readers everything. Not only should you avoid info-dumping your poor readers in the beginning of the story, you should avoid info-dumping your readers AT ALL TIMES. Remember - bring out world details through action and dialogue - NOT description and exposition! Sprinkle these tidbits throughout - icing is tasty, true, but good lord, no one wants a fist-sized glob of icing all at once! Even as the author, you don't have to know EVERYTHING about your own story. ... View Post
WRITE WHAT YOU LOVE. PERIOD.
Has your writing been stuck in a rut lately? Feeling completely uninspired? Dreading opening up that document to stare unproductively again for hours at that blinking cursor? Then maybe it's time to re-evaluate the project in question. Ask yourself WHAT IS THE POINT you want to get across in that work? What is the driving force behind the whole thing? What is the message you want people to take away with them after reading? If these questions draw blanks in your mind, truly take a little ... View Post
Late Friday Night Special: Guest Haikus!
For something totally random and different, please enjoy these three amazing haikus, each revolving around a short story (which makes them way more awesome than a regular haiku, of course!), whipped up over lunch by another of my writer friends - Rod Galindo: Can you guess which short story of mine these haikus refer to?? ;) *** A new body waits, Transfer: unpredictable, Doc, where am I now? *** Werewolves on my heels Yes, nice day for a parade Lily, I love you *** And this one is ... View Post
The Story in a Bag: "A Lovely Day for a Parade"
To make up for my missed Writing Prompt Wednesday last week, I now present you with the short story I wrote over Memorial Day weekend for Kansas City, Missouri's ConQuesT 44 science fiction convention's Story in a Bag contest. What in the heck is a Story in a Bag!?!? you might be asking. Well, good question. The Story in a Bag contest involved the following: drawing five random prompts out of five different brown paper bags. Taking your five prompts and writing a story using all five prompts ... View Post
Project List for June 2013
And here we go again! I cannot believe how fast May went by! WHOOOOOSH!!! This worked out super swell last month, so I'm going for it again: Write 200 words a day or 1400 words a week, of anything, period. I know this seems like a low number in the grand scheme of things, but I’d much rather continuously exceed my goal than continuously fail to reach it. So, I set it low for daily counts, to be within an acceptable range to make up words if I don’t get to write for a day or two! (Goal = ... View Post
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