Writing Philosophy

Is Fear of Success a Myth?

January 26, 2012

I’ve been around the block a time or two, and am not a complete “guy in a diner“* when it comes to psychology and philosophy.   That said, I’m every bit as opinionated as the next guy, but I hope, with reason.  It is with real interest, and no small amount of puzzlement, then, that [...]

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I Hope it Doesn’t Take a Train

January 21, 2012

Despite our secret wishes and desires, it turns out that writers are basically made of the same stuff as everyone else.  I know.  I know.  That’s harsh, but hear me out.
Everyone, to some level or other, thinks of him- or herself as special.  The only time you’ll ever hear people describe themselves as average is [...]

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Deus Ex (You)

January 21, 2012

The old Greeks had a tradition that I’ve always found interesting.  In plays, they would let the humans do what humans do—that is to say, mess up their lives unimaginably—and then would lower a god-like creature on a rope to wave his hands and make everything come out in the end.
The pros were that you [...]

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Writing in a Cave

January 20, 2012

In book VII of The Republic, by Plato, we read of the Allegory of the Cave.  It tells how Socrates describes men who are chained so they can only look in a single direction.  What they see are shadows on the wall of the cave cast by men walking between them and a fire.  The [...]

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Was it Dark Enough, Yesterday?

January 19, 2012

If you are an avid user of the Internet (and you’re here, right?) you know that a good many sites were “dark” yesterday.  Some actually shut down (or rather blocked their content).  Some pretended, but could be reached if you scrolled down far enough and read the fine print, and some, like this site, ran [...]

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When Your Perfect Reader Isn’t

January 17, 2012

One suggestion I read over and over in the world of writing instruction is very like a recommendation for public speakers.  Choose one particular person in the audience, and speak to him (or her).  The same, it is said, holds true for your “perfect reader”.
First, and right out of the blocks, we need to understand [...]

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What Makes You A Writer?

January 12, 2012

I am bound to ruffle some feathers with this post, but, oh, la… here we go again. (grin)
Somebody once told me that what it takes to be a writer is for someone else to call you one.  I almost got that, at the time.  But name calling—even in a good sense—is fairly cheap.  While I [...]

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Situational Idiots

January 6, 2012

Everybody makes mistakes.  I mean, even if you don’t use them all that much, any more, pencils STILL have erasers on them.  In fact, I’d say that among man’s artifacts, nothing points more strongly to human fallibility than a pencil with an eraser.
Keeping this in mind, let us consider the situational idiot.  This is a [...]

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Is Killing Off Your Characters Too Easy?

January 3, 2012

You’ve been working on your novel for months, and it has grown to the point of unwieldiness.  Too many characters are bouncing back and forth in the halls of your large and unmapped setting.  Too many plot twists and bits have been generated, too many dead herrings left to deal with.
What to do?  What to [...]

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The Humanization of Ray Kurtz

January 3, 2012

It has taken a good many body blows, and slaps to the face for me, but I’ve finally gotten the message.  The main character of my novel, FIVE, has been a deeply depressed robot with delusions of adequacy.  Luckily I realized this soon enough to make some changes.
Somewhere, my erstwhile writing guru, Stephen King said [...]

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