I went back to basics this evening and scratched out a few words on paper and pencil (well, biro to be specific). From a productivity standpoint the word processor is significantly quicker, but I still much prefer the physical act of writing for a first draft. The act of creating those little arcs and curvesContinue reading “Scratch Scratch Scratch”
Category Archives: Writing Journal
Week 5 Round-Up
Urg…this week was a total bitch. By Tuesday I’d convinced myself the entire story was fatally flawed and needed a complete overhaul before going any further. By Thursday I’d planned an entire shift of genre and by Friday I’d abandoned that and decided to quit writing altogether in favour of the much more pleasurable pastContinue reading “Week 5 Round-Up”
Interference
I think I’m going to have to develop some policy on what I read when I’m writing. I find reading essential for writing. I usually sit and read for half an hour or so before starting to write to kick-start my linguistic imagination. But sometimes reading the wrong thing can cause a kind of literaryContinue reading “Interference”
Protected: It vs. They – A Cosmology
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Week 4 Round-Up
Week Four closes and after my shortfall in Week Three I’ve turned things around and gone 600+ words over to hit 3167. That’s a nice feeling. This weeks writing gave me an introductory scene between the philosopher Hemlock and his great grand daughter Miranda. As I write I realise I’m yet to return to theContinue reading “Week 4 Round-Up”
Romance vs. Realism
An great interview with George R R Martin over on the Weird Tales site. I’m in continual awe of GRRM’s skills as a writer, so I’m something of a hound for anything he says about his approach to crafting stories. “The real differences, to my mind, is between romantic fiction, which all these genres areContinue reading “Romance vs. Realism”
Why Is My Blog So Boring?
Because I’m writing. I’m not expecting to write anything more interesting on the blog than ‘wrote 1000 words today’ until I’ve hit my 80,000 word target. You never know however, I might find something interesting to say about the positive benefits of blue over black biros. Now isn’t that worth sticking around for? Despite theContinue reading “Why Is My Blog So Boring?”
Stay on target! Stay on target!!
Well, I’ve completely missed this weeks target. I got some kind of flu bug on Thursday and I’ve just been sitting around coughing. I am quite prone to colds but I seem to have got absolutely everything going around this year. Frustratingly although I was off work on Friday a high fever and racking coughContinue reading “Stay on target! Stay on target!!”
Prospero is Burning
In America they are burning books… …to save them. Prospero’s Books
Confidence
Phew – barely scraped last weeks word count. I made it to about 1400 words by Wednesday and then hit what has since been described as ‘a crisis of confidence’. A few things contributed to this. I took a break on Wednesday evening. This was my first mistake. From now on I’ll do something everyday,Continue reading “Confidence”
Nasty. And Proud Of It.
A reasonably productive day in the wordmines today. I moved forward by about 600 words penned in an hour after work. They aren’t great words – the characters had not shaped up particularly from yesterday but I ploughed forward anyway. I then went back to the start of the scene and started reshaping. Its atContinue reading “Nasty. And Proud Of It.”
Mainstream-o-phobia
Or…please let me back into the ghetto! There is a growing idea in the SFF world that the mainstream is the place to be. This excellent article by Robert J Sawyer explains why so I won’t bother repeating. This seems like a good move to me, although I think more ‘fantastic’ work, epic fantasy forContinue reading “Mainstream-o-phobia”
Damien Walter 