Category Archives: Writing Journal

Joe Abercrombie needs little introduction. He’s one of the most successful fantasy authors working today and the face of “grimdark” both for the sub-genres fans and its detractors. In this forthright interview Abercrombie attacks the concept of grimdark head on, questions fantasy fictions habit of re-writing Tolkien, and shares his thoughts on writing for youngContinue reading “Grimdark, what is it? Joe Abercrombie in discussion with Ahimsa Kerp.”

Confusing sequels, terrible prequels and poor adaptations aside, Frank Herbert’s masterpiece still stands up as the one of the truly great sci-fi novels. I first discovered Dune through David Lynch’s 1984 film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s SF masterpiece. The “Lynchian” style, that novelist David Foster Wallace would later define as “a particular kind of ironyContinue reading “Frank Herbert’s Dune at 50 has life in it yet”

Whatever your practice is, that thing that is the engine of your growth as a human being, the time will come when you’ll need to get paid for it. A strong practice doesn’t want to stay in the 45 minutes a day you give it around your job in IT. It grows as you grow.Continue reading “Write. For. Money.”

A quote from fellow writer John Barnes. “If you can’t stand the thought of ending up nowhere, don’t write.” ~John Barnes Remember it. Write it down somewhere. On the wall, above where you write. Stencil it around your whole house. Scribble it in magic marker down your arms if you have to. Because it’s true.Continue reading “If you can’t stand the thought of ending up nowhere, don’t write.”

Creative life is hard. The goal, of becoming a mature creator who can write a great novel, compose a magnificent symphony, paint a powerful image, or any other of the myriad rewards of creative endeavour, is always far away. (Until the moment it isn’t, which comes often without warning and when you are least expectingContinue reading “Avoid cliques at all costs, they are a shortcut to creative death”

SF provides a place to focus our awe at the wonders of the universe, just one of many functions it shares with religious beliefs. Ever since mankind began to count, the uncountable stars have been filling us with awe. But the splendour revealed by a cloudless night reveals only a fraction of the universe’s trulyContinue reading “Is science fiction a 21st century religion?”

Let’s agree that creativity is a universal human potential. Maybe there are some poor souls who are born without that potential (I’m yet to meet a single one) but they aren’t our concern here. Let’s speculate that creativity is the highest human potential (I believe this absolutely) and that expressing our creativity – whether asContinue reading “Beware the blocked creator”

“There’s really no shortcuts to this. As smart and talented as you are, you’re still going to have to spend thousands of hours alone in a room mercilessly criticising all your own perceptions.” Nic Pizzolatto, author of Galveston, writer and showrunner for True Detective Mercilessly. Criticising. ALL. Your. Own. Perceptions. The unwillingness to do justContinue reading “Why most writers suck and always will”