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Explaining my job using only the 1000 most commonly used English words
A few weeks back the xkcd web comic posted a cartoon illustrating how a rocket works using only the 1000 most commonly used words in English. This kicked off the Up Goer Five challenge: describe your...
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Not all reasons are reasonable
Several years ago I was browsing in a bookstore. Now that I think of it, a lot more of my personal anecdotes probably ought to begin with that line than usually do. But I digress… I picked up a...
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Time doesn’t work that way
Last year I bought an audiobook based on the recommendation of an acquaintance, along with several favorable reviews. The opening chapter was a bit heavy on the description for my taste—I don’t need to...
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Nothing wrong with history
When I wrote about the problematic way some fantasy authors treat time, I alluded to some historic events from 1100 years ago in the real world in order to make my point. Since one of the points I was...
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This time it’s (not so) personal
When I wrote about how people process history and, more specifically, how believable character motivation in fiction is when based upon distant historical events, a few people pointed to ethnic...
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What’s it about?
A friend recently asked our monthly writing group for advice about a novel idea that he had been struggling with. His specific question was whether the story was worth finishing. I asked him what the...
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Abyss gazing
It was 1986 and I was twenty-six years old, attending a regional science fiction convention with a bunch of my friends. One of the guests of honor was an author (we’ll call him Mr. C) that two of my...
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End of year one
One year ago I started this blog to: …see if having another place—a new place, without the history and other issues inherent to those other blogs—to do that personal kind of long-form blogging that I...
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The dust of daily life
A number of years ago a reader wrote in to tell how much they had enjoyed a specific story I’d written, which was very flattered. Unfortunately, he also said he was happy that I had returned to writing...
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Part and parcel
A pop musician or movie star gets arrested for driving under the influence and being in possession of an illegal controlled substance. When he or she is sentenced to nothing more than some hours of...
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Told in flashback
One of my pet peeves as a reader is the story told in flashback. Admittedly, one of the reasons I dislike it is because, having been involved with several small press and fannish projects over the...
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My afternoon cuppa
At work I drink the coffee provided in the kitchen in the mornings. They have a big grinder that is set to deliver a measured amount of grounds, and the coffee selected isn’t bad. There are enough of...
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Misdirect, don’t lie or withhold
The are times, as a writer, when you want to surprise your readers or give them a puzzle to solve. That’s clearly a major part of a murder mystery, of course, but you do it in other stories as well....
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Is it worth the outrage?
Another corner of the internet is boiling over. Linking to it serves no purpose. I already wasted too much time trying to figure out what everyone is so upset about—because the guess I made when I read...
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History is longer than you think
I have complained before1 about fantasy authors whose world-building includes statements like, “the peace didn’t last long, because 400 years later…” because history isn’t just a time line, it’s also...
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Putting the perfect into the flashback
Because I have written (several times) and ranted (even more times) about badly used flashbacks, some people have concluded that I hate the flashback with the passion of a million burning suns. Quite...
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Even a young earth is older than you think
So, a few days ago I posted about one of my pet peeves in fantasy world-building, the writer who thinks 600-years ago is the dawn of time. A friend who read my post raised an interesting point. “If the...
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Artistic license
A close up of the t-shirt.Recently a couple of different friends sent me a link to that day’s Shirt-Woot. A t-shirt with a dictionary joke. Of course it’s the perfect thing for Gene. It is rare to find...
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A good day to die
Readers can be like addicts. Once they fall in love with a fictional character, they want to read more, and more, and more about the character. A good-selling series of books can set a writer for life....
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Write it or lose it
My writing goal for this last weekend was to complete the cleanup on a novel so I can send it to some people who have volunteered to copy edit it. This goal was set before the really bad hay fever I’d...
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