Bernie and I have begun work on Mrs. Hawking part four, tentatively titled Gilded Cages, and we're running into some challenges. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, as we've had this happen with each subsequent installment, but this one has presented some difficulties that are thus far unique. The biggest thing to deal with is … Continue reading The challenges of plotting Mrs. Hawking part 4
I’ve always struggled with choosing titles for my written work. A lot rides on a title, so I have have standards for them that I’ve never been that good at meeting. They are the symbol of and the reference by which the work is known, so it should appropriate and worth to represent piece’s soul … Continue reading A work by any other name
The third installment of Mrs. Hawking is now underway. With Bernie's help, I have begun the challenging process of plotting it out, and it's clear that this will significantly harder than what I've done before. First of all, Base Instruments will be a true mystery, as opposed to a caper like the first two stories. … Continue reading The challenge of writing Base Instruments
I have a fear of letting my characters be my characters. While art that works is art that works, and it's often difficult to quanitify exactly what makes one piece compelling while another one isn't, there are generally some guidelines to good storytelling. Drama requires conflict. Stakes should be high. There must be an arc … Continue reading Letting my characters be my characters
I don’t write about sex much. I don’t know if those of you who have read much of my work have noticed that, but I tend not to deal with it very often. To be frank, I think there’s something approaching a prudishness in a lot of my writing— not a lot of exploration of … Continue reading Sex in my writing
The drafting process doesn’t come naturally to me, and as such, at times I find it frustrating. During my early development as a writer, I was extremely compelled to edit as I wrote, and if I couldn’t figure out just how I wanted to phrase something, I wouldn’t write it. That lead to nothing ever … Continue reading The drafting process
As a writer, plot is very important to me. I care about other things too, of course-- character, voice, style, things like that --but I have a very hard time getting invested in a story unless "something interesting happens" in it. It also happens to be part of the writing process I'm pretty good at. … Continue reading The tradeoff for plot
