Not too long ago, I took an informal class on the art of storyboarding. (I say informal because my buddy was going to be teaching an online class and he needed some guinea pi-, er, volunteers to help him on the trial run.) I learned a hell of a lot about the underlying principles of […]
Category > Inspiration
Why do we write?
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about why I write, or why I started writing in the first place, because over time, these two concepts may diverge. An insidious thing can happen: you can lose sight of what you love about the act, and get caught up in the business of writing: wanting to make […]
things I got from the surrealists
Recently I went to LA to go on an art date with some friends. We went to this show: In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and The United States. (More about the exhibit at the LA Times, the Huffington Post, and by our own Andrew Penn-Romine.) It was an amazing, thought […]
Boldly Going Where Everyone Has Gone Before
I’ve been watching a lot of Star Trek lately. A LOT of Star Trek. Ever since Netflix secured the rights to stream the whole enchilada, I’ve been (re)enjoying the voyages of the starships Enterprise, Enterprise, Voyager, and Enterprise (and the Defiant). One of the things I’ve noticed on my return trip through the Star Trek […]
The World According to Lou
Lou Anders is the editorial director of Prometheus Books’ science fiction and fantasy imprint Pyr as well as several anthologies. He’s been nominated for multiple awards multiple times, including the Locus Awards, Shirley Jackson Award, Philip K. Dick Award, Chelsey Award, World Fantasy Award and the Hugo Award. He’s won the Chesley Award and […]
Conversations
This is not a post about writing dialogue. Last weekend, I caught up with an old friend over dinner. We first met in a now-defunct writers’ group, back when I first had an inkling I might want to give this whole writing thing a shot. As one of my first beta-readers and original fans, I […]
Fuel
What’s your writing fuel? Whenever I hear that question, I think of a big mug of black coffee perched precariously by the keyboard or an IV drip of tea plugged right into a vein. Some writers might suggest a good bar of dark chocolate (with sea-salt on top) or a ginormous hunk of pie. In […]
Abuse Your Muse
They will not force us…They will not control us…Rise up and take the power back! How many of you have read Northern Lights? (that’s The Golden Compass to you northamericaners.) Remember those animal daemons that followed the characters around? They were human souls made manifest. I sometimes picture our Muses in a similar fashion, except […]
Aspiration to Perspiration: Making Time to Write
One of the most common complaints from aspiring writers is that they “don’t have time to write.†It’s true that life has a way of filling up your time with things both mundane and important. Your job is stressful and you’re working lots of OT. Kids. Family obligations. Opportunities to see friends you haven’t seen […]
Getting Started: The Hardest Part
Getting started is hard. In fact, I’ll even admit to having had a hard time starting this blog post. I procrastinated in every way I could: attending to other projects, watching Youtube videos (even horrible ones, I’ll spare you a link), cleaning, tweeting, talking on the phone, exercising, etc. I knew I had to write […]
