Right now, I’m going through this unexpected rough spot in my novel, where I know what’s supposed to happen (or at least I have enough of an idea to wing it fairly well), but the writing just isn’t coming. This happens every time I hit the two thirds mark, and it really sucks. Currently, I’m… Continue reading Braving the unexpected rough spots
Tag: On Writing
Thoughts on the convolutions of discovery writing
It’s been forever since I posted, so I figured I’d put something up and let you guys know what I’ve been up to. I’m happy to say that Worlds Away From Home is going well; I wrote just under 20k this week, which is more than I’ve written in a long time. I hope to… Continue reading Thoughts on the convolutions of discovery writing
Falling back into the groove
Today I surprised myself and wrote nearly 4k words, some of which might actually be good enough to keep. Huzzah! The novel is coming along very nicely, and I’m starting to get really excited with where it’s going. That’s huge, because up to this point, the nagging “this is crap, what are you doing with… Continue reading Falling back into the groove
Second Quarter 2010 report
As you may or may not know, I keep a spreadsheet of my daily word counts. Nerdy, I know, but you’d be surprised how helpful it can be with keeping goals and staying motivated. As part of that, I’ve decided to do a quarterly report here on my blog. Here’s my report for April 2010… Continue reading Second Quarter 2010 report
Take me to Arabia
Recently, I’ve found myself nearly overwhelmed by the sudden urge to run away to the Middle East and go totally and irrevocably native. It may pass, but I still want to go back there–really bad. So I looked up BYU’s TESOL certification program, and figured I could apply in January, start fall of ’11, and… Continue reading Take me to Arabia
The need to change
I picked up this sign at institute last Wednesday. The lesson was on our desires; specifically, how the thing that we truly desire deep down is often the thing that we get. The main reason I posted this sign on the door was to motivate me to get a better job than my current one. … Continue reading The need to change
An interesting concept
Last night, I was hanging out with a friend of mine and a couple of girls in the apartment complex where I currently live. We got to talking about books, and one of the girls said something really interesting: Every book needs to have one thing that the main character knows that the reader doesn’t… Continue reading An interesting concept
Major project shift
I’ve got this goal to finish my current work-in-progress, To Search the Starry Sea, by May 1st 2010. However, the deeper I get into the story, the more I realize how many problems it has–how much it sucks, in other words. Normally, this wouldn’t keep me from dropping the project or putting it on hold.… Continue reading Major project shift
Thoughts on writing characters
A couple months ago, I was listening to one of my personal recordings of Brandon Sanderson’s English 318 lectures from last year’s class. The topic was writing characters. Brandon outlined several techniques for making characters sympathetic. He also outlined how to round them out: give them flaws and handicaps, as well as little quirks to… Continue reading Thoughts on writing characters
Thoughts after finishing A Canticle for Leibowitz
Wow. Wow. This book is INCREDIBLE. I’ll review it later, but first I want to put down some of my initial thoughts. With any great book, you come to a point where you realize, consciously or not, that it just can’t get any better. The story, the characters, the world, the ideas and stakes, the… Continue reading Thoughts after finishing A Canticle for Leibowitz