One Man Show
People have this image of a writer spending his time locked up in his basement typing away. And while there is a lot of that – personally, sitting at my desk in the corner of my bedroom underneath my “My …
Category: Writing
What I’m learning along the path to becoming a writer.
The D.E.P. (Derail Every Plan) Method
I’m in two critique groups, one for novels and one for screenplays. My novel group met yesterday and chapters 4 and 5 of my first steampunk novel were up. The great thing about being in a critique group is that, …
Falling Behind
Next week, I will be reviewing my goals for the first quarter of 2023. I’m doing pretty good in most categories, except one, which is arguably the most important one. My writing. I should have finished chapter three of my …
Oh, no, Here We Go!
Starting a new novel can be intimidating, but also exciting. And it’s one of my major goals of the year: Write a new novel and write a new screenplay. While I’m still working on trimming my second steampunk screenplay, it …
A Long Time Ago at a Campfire Far, Far Away
We are storytellers. It’s in our blood. Ever since small groups of hunters and gatherers sat around the campfire, they have told stories. While some basics remain constant, the styles of storytelling change. We can see this even within our …
Hit by the Sledgehammer of Inspiration
How it All Starts I start off my Thursday afternoon as I always do. I drop off my client to his therapist and hit the local Yogurtland to grab my favorite chocolate obsession and do some writing. I used to …
The Short of It
So, I’m currently working on my 165-page screenplay. I’m trying to get it down to at least 143 pages, the length of the first screenplay in the trilogy. By page 25, the heroes have figured out who the villain is …
The Greater Los Angeles Writers Conference
The Greater Los Angeles Writers Conference Two weeks ago, was the GLAWC, after which I was too brain-dead to write it up. The following week I wrote about Karl Lembke’s memorial. So now, here is my overview of the conference. …
LATFoB
It’s been a week since the L.A. Times Festival of Books, and I’m recovered enough to write about it. Actually, it wasn’t that bad. The LATFoB had been canceled for the past two years because of Covid. This first year …
Back to the Future
It seems like we were just at the L. Ron. Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Annual Achievement Awards. Oh, yes, it was last October when they combined the 36th and 37th annual awards. Now it is back on …