Category Archives: WRITING

How strange.  I have not been able to write creatively in well over a month and yet a word, "wisteria," sneaks into mind that brings a necessary scent and touch to an old story and I know that it belongs … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Oh goody–another great wail about writer’s block!  Back in the good ole’ days, the early Spinning times, we had a go-round and coined the word "prolificality."  The proper form, of course, is prolificacy, but then, making up words was part … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I have carefully avoided personal references here lately–few care, and why hang out the dirty laundry?  (metaphorical cliche!)  However, a writer’s words cannot help but be a part of his own self, gained through  hands-on or observation. It is fairly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve written about critique here before, and in my opinion find it invaluable to a writer who cannot help but become blind to his own writing.  I’ve asked for help and suggestions here and on MetaxuCafe on one of my … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Self doubt is an inborn trait in most writers (and artists of any creative form I would suppose), and it’s nice to see that agents have that sympathetic understanding:  Miss Snark on When to Stop. Continue reading →

“Peeked out into the three a.m. darkness to see yesterday morning’s snowfall damaged by the warming afternoon.  Sunken in depressions like a Temperfoam mattress.” OR “Went shopping for a back-relieving foam mattress, lumpy like the morning’s snowfall melted by the … Continue reading →

Vacillation is one of my most highly developed traits, and one that is self-defeating to a writer.  So I’m going with Joe Bazooka’s advice (God, weren’t these comics funnier when I was a kid–this one’s about Wall Street and M-TV!) … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This comes at a time when I’ve just let my own many-years’ long subscription lapse:  Lee Goldberg’s post on Writers Digest with plenty of comments–including those of Kristin Godsey, Editor of the magazine.  Read Writers Digest at Lee’s A Writer’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Even as my fingers waffle between the print button and the wait-a-minute-this-would-sound-better-editing of the keyboard on Big Tim Dawson, and with my cover letter zippy and not my usual Suzie Secretary proper with a touch of a self-deprecating please?, I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Maybe I should just go back to my roots and write horror stories.  I’m too easily led astray by what I read in contemporary literary fiction to be satisfied.  I was all set to send one out that I’ve worked … Continue reading → Continue reading →

For almost two years now I’ve been searching for a climax, a major trauma plopped into the orderly lives of a seemingly perfect family kept orderly by a guilt-ridden and overachieving mother.  It has to be more than what I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve heard it said that there seems to be an extraordinary amount of first person POV fiction written these days.  I’ve heard students in writing classes say that first person is the easiest to write.  Personally, it took a while … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Shoot.  I think I had it and now I’m wrecking it.  I need to turn ruthless and slash my way through, so for now, Big Tim Dawson is off the platter of Spinning and and I’ll do some severe workshopping-style … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve got to keep my hands off Tim Dawson.  I’ve been playing with him for about a month and his story’s been cut, changed, but is now growing into long story format at close to 5,000 words.  I keep thinking … Continue reading → Continue reading →