Fiction is a lie, or at least an untruth. A good storyteller can make an untruth believable within the world or reality they construct. To become a good storyteller perhaps one needs to be a good liar. To become a good liar perhaps the starting point is to avoid clues that you are lying. # # # If you Google “Forensic Statement Analysis” you find lots of garbage; courses and […]
Lies, and Fiction
Writing Review: Nine Dragons and Burning Angel
I’ve recently read (some of) two novels: a randomly selected detective novel, Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly, and a cop novel that came recommended, Burning Angel by James Lee Burke. First, Nine Dragons. Grammatically fine, but the writing is not much beyond high school. The internal monologue is probably the best part, but the dialogue is flat and colorless. Often there are long stretches of dialogue with no action, no gestures, no […]
Micro-Fiction
There is a contest running on EveryDayFiction. The site gives ten words, you must use at least four, plus there is a saying which is optional as a theme. The maximum word count is 250 words. The contest is open for submissions for eight days, and I’ve decided to write a new piece each day. At the end I’ll select one as my entry. What I’ve learned so far: There […]
Narrative of the Seahawks
I’m a pretty big fan of the Seattle Seahawks. I don’t bleed blue and green or have a room full of swag, but I do have an official NFL football autographed by Mack Strong. My fandom goes back to the days of Zorn to Largent and Krieg to Largent, followed by years and years of enduring the mediocrity. I remember spending the Christmas holidays of 1999 at my brother’s place […]
Weak Characters from Plot Writers? The Prophet, by Michael Koryta
I read a lot of fiction; largely novels, titles pulled from readers’ choice or bestseller lists regardless of genre or authors, downloaded from the library in ebook format. Every book is a surprise, a challenge. Some less so because of the title or the cover, but still, in almost every case I haven’t read any previous works by the author. I do this because I want to be unprepared, tested […]
Not Wired for Conflict
I’m reading Wired for Story, by Lisa Cron. One particular section made me think. She mentions a successful business man in his 60s, married to his high school sweetheart, with successful grown children. He brought Cron an 800 page novel, and, noting the absence of conflict in it, she asked him how he felt about conflict in his own life. “He frowned. ‘I don’t like it,’ he said, tensing. […]
Thinking in Style
I sometimes absorb writing styles from my reading, then use that voice in my head as I’m thinking to myself. Do other people do this? The most recent example was the other night when I started The Twelve, by Justin Cronin. The title came to me via some reading list so I had no idea who Justin Cronin is or what kind of novel The Twelve might be; like […]
Editing Review: Stranger in a Strange Land
I’m reading Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein, but not for the first time. Many, many years ago it was my ‘bible’; the good book that I read from before going to sleep. As an agnostic faux-intellectual college student I latched on to Heinlein’s unconvinced, usually cynical attitudes toward politics, government, society, and found solace in the advice of Jubal Harshaw and in the commune of the Nest. […]
Novel development
With the help of NaNoWriMo and the 3DayNovel I have finished four novels, but after a year and a half on my current main WIP, I’m still stuck. If you don’t mind, I’m going to have a discussion with myself, using you as the audience. It’s a big challenge. The character now has far more elements to her than any other character that I’ve written—the result of having danced […]
Writer’s Block?
If I search this blog it tells me that by January 14 of this year I was already stuck for the ending of my current novel. That means that I’ve been stuck for over six months. The four novels I’ve completed (three successful NaNoWriMos and one 3DayNovel) all came in around 60,000 – 70,000 words (the 3DayNovel finished at 23,000 and was expanded later). This current WIP stopped at about […]