Sometimes, when I read a children’s book I feel like my emotions are all over the place and sometimes I feel like I don’t have any at all. Sometimes I feel played by the emotions conveyed in a book, manipulated to have a tear well up in my eye, a choke in my throat. I’m susceptible…
Category: Art & Craft
Pay Myself First
Just after I got my first job, my dad took me to see his accountant. Can’t remember much about him, except he and dad were in the Knights of Columbus together–dad had been treasurer of the Council of St. Francis Xavier Parish–both were fourth degree knights, not that that really matters. Anyway, Tony gave me…
Beta Readers
Sigh. Another three months have gone by. Double Sigh. So. Where were we? When I write I’m not exactly a pantser. But I’m not a plotter either. I know where the story is going. I know how I want it to end. Maybe I’m too willing to find a new character along the way. Or find a…
every story has a world
Writing speculative fiction [as Orson Scott Card refers to the entire science fiction and fantasy genre] is a dream of mine. I’ve struggled with this world building concept and thought it applicable only to a couple of ideas I had about something outside the realm of contemporary or historical. There have been a number of panels at…
a little writing craft…
Funny little word that, craft. A dictionary might define it as ‘a skill involved in making things by hand.’ Or, ‘to make or construct (something) with care or ingenuity.’ A craftsman is a chooser–– of the raw material, the design of the material, even the final outcome of putting all that material together, what the combined material will be. A craftsman is skilled––’having…