Just a writing exercise. I haven't written much in the past week, and I needed this to kick start my writerly tendencies. I'm continuing with my series about Jack the retail warehouse worker. The day was bright, but it hadn't been that way in the morning. The morning had been grayer, but the friendly sun…
On Good Fiction (and learning from other first-timers)
While watching a program about lions on the Smithsonian Channel, I happened upon an article in a the Daily News paper lying on my coffee table. The article was about a Queens novelist's first-time novel.It grabbed my attention immediately. As an aspiring novelist myself, these things are of great concern to me, and doubly so…
On the Modern Affairs of a Writer
Every writer dreams of striking it rich, to make his or her mark on the world. Every writer hopes to develop a following and to become financially independent so that one can pursue one's craft withoutthe distractions of rent and bills (and maybe to buy a yacht). One writer achieved this level of success. His…
Learning the Novelist's Craft: By Way of Self-Study
I'm probably a little more than three quarters of the way done with writing my novel. I have some hard questions to tackle. I've written 55,000 words so far and know how I am ending the novel. HowI'm going to get there is a little more difficult. I can take the easy way out, that's…
Not that there's anything wrong with that
One afternoon, I had the fortune of seeing my friend over a cup of tea. He's a man who takes fifteen minutes to do his hair every morning. He likes to take good care of his skin and is slightly regimentalabout his Clinique three-step skin care program. He loves shiny shoes and spends an inordinate…
