The internet is many things. Today I want to look at it through the lens of a creative artist. I am a writer, but this blog post could easily apply to any artist, craftsman, musician, or performer. The internet has given us access to so much information on how to improve our crafts. It opens […]
I’ve spent the better part of the decade reading all the craft books I can. I don’t know everything there is to know about writing, I don’t think anyone really does. Writing (and art, in general) is too personal for that, too dependent on the individual. But I’ve gotten to a point where most “writing […]
Life is filled with small revelations. I say small, because the truly grand, life changing ones are almost never experienced or digested in a single afternoon. The truly big revelations are always composed of several smaller ones. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about time. I’ve always liked the metaphor of time as a river. […]
If you’ve been following this blog, then you might’ve seen earlier posts where I compared writing and publishing to running a marathon. That metaphor still stands, but I want to explore this one. Why use multiple metaphors when one would do? When I coached swimming, it was common to explain the same drill multiple ways […]
Everybody’s journey is different. Some of us grow up writing stories and know from an early age that we’re going to spend our life writing stories. Others come to the craft later, but no less hungry; maybe they’re avid readers of an underserved genre and decide they want to write their own story to fill […]
I recently finished Kurt Vonnegut’s writing book Pity the Reader. In it, Suzanne McConnell (a former student of Vonnegut’s) compiles various pieces of advice and tidbits from the master. I might do a more in depth review of the book (which, in short, was great), but I was struck by the section, Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe or Choice. […]
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” –Jack London I think a lot of writers start out with the image of themselves as tortured artists, slaving away at the keyboard or waiting for inspiration to strike. They write infrequently, if ever, and have more manuscripts half-finished on their […]
Like all things in life, there is both a short answer and a longer answer to the question of “Where do authors find their inspiration?” Short answer: Everywhere. Slightly longer answer: Everywhere, but you need to be open and receptive to it. The rest of the answer: Inspiration can come from anywhere but it often […]
In a previous post I talked about my feelings on what it takes to be a writer: You need to write every day. No one writes a novel in a day or a weekend or even a week. I have a few points to add to that. Running a marathon is an apt analogy for […]
Everyone writes, but not everyone calls themselves a writer. We all wrote papers in high school and college. We write Emails and text messages and social media posts. Some of us even write for a living (copywriting, technical writing, social media). They are certainly writers, aren’t they? Let’s narrow down the question: What makes someone […]
Samuel Fleming Books 