Category: Writing

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Writing is Painting with Words

When most people think about artists, what first comes to mind are painters, sculptors, film makers, musicians, or composers. Writers are usually an afterthought. “Yeah. I guess they’re artists, too.” In a way it makes sense. Visual arts and music are immediate. Striking. The object itself engenders a reaction. If you look at a book, though, it might be the cover art that grabs your attention, but the text itself isn’t much to look at – until you start immersing yourself into it. The beauty of writing is that it’s arguably even more of an act of co-creation than other Read More …

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Notes from a Season of Writing

Writing goes through its own seasons, much like life in general does. Right now I’m in a season of change. What was comfortable yesterday has become stifling. And what was safe and a source of pride has somehow morphed into a daunting obstacle. In the immortal words of Bruce Springsteen, I want to “change my clothes, my hair, my face” – and a few things besides. Actually it’s not about appearance at all. It’s about what’s going on under the hood. I’ve been slacking on my diet, I’ve been slacking on exercise, and with the resultant lack of energy, I’ve Read More …

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Judge a Book by Its Cover

They tell you that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but, hey, the cover is its calling-card. It’s like the first impression you form of another person, and I suppose it’s just about reliable. Which is to say, it’s mostly a pretty good approximation, unless the person’s a consummate actor, or the publisher slapped a cheap stock cover on the book and thereby left a good part of its chances in the marketplace on the table. Sometimes I wonder if giving a new or mid-list author a mediocre cover may not be part of the strategy. After all, Read More …

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Of Special Snowflakes

Whenever I talk to other writers, my first impulse is to be extremely impressed. They lay out their ideas, they talk about the stories they’re outlining, and my immediate assumption is that they’ve got a winner, that they’ll be published long before I ever will, and that they’re amazing. Sure, they probably are amazing. But in many cases they haven’t even written word one of that novel. All they’ve done is to set down a bunch of ideas on (real or virtual) paper, and to wax eloquent about it. And I automatically assume that they’re about to pen the next Read More …

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The Query Trenches

So I’m back in the query trenches. Isn’t it funny how querying a book somehow seems to make everything more real? Your book, your ambition, and your self-perception as a writer/author. I can see how people dread the query process and the disappointments it almost invariably brings, but it’s not something that personally fazes me. Actually I welcome querying because it means that my manuscript is done and as polished as my current skills allow. I’m neither afraid nor resentful of rejection. Sure, there’s a brief flash of disappointment, but my self-worth isn’t tied to other people’s approval. My own Read More …