I once wrote 12 rules to help newcomers become prolific writers. There was some good advice there, but looking back, most of it can be boiled down to, “Be consistent and results oriented.” Being prolific isn’t about how many projects you start. It’s about how many you finish. Were I to give similar advice today,…
As a multidisciplinary artist, I find that passing time has different effects on how I perceive the art I create. The same does not seem to be true for others’ art. If I like another artist’s piece, I will always like it. Occasionally, as I grow more in my understanding of art, my tastes broaden,…
Reprinted with permission from thisblogblank.wordpress.com, 12/19/2018. After watching my wife work on a couple of her oil paintings, I’ve come to realize that producing a work of fiction is very similar to creating a painting. Too many new writers have unrealistically low expectations about how good a first draft can be due to an overabundance…
Looking for a way to enhance your comedic, acting, or writing skills but don’t have time for class? Want to learn from established masters instead of some night-school hack whose big moment happened in his high school play? Well, there’s an online gig called MasterClass that purports to do just that. You can learn comedy…
Truth? Prententious bollocks? Possibly.
While I’m busy cleaning up loose ends and failed endeavors, I’ve decided to withdraw all of my books from publication, effective immediately. I’m tired of swimming upstream against a tide of indifference. I’ve gotten a few rejects from agents, but that’s not the reason. I honestly don’t give a damn what an agent thinks.…
My next book. “One of these nights at about twelve o’clock this whole earth’s gonna reel and rock… things thay’ll tremble and cry fer pain for the Lord’s gonna come in his heaven aeroplane.” — Heavenly Aeroplane A sparse, but enthusiastic crowd sits in the aluminum stands of a high school baseball game. Along the…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVQxSFG-ahk&feature=related This was an ordinary day, at an ordinary time, in an ordinary place. There once was a man, who needed to reach the sea. For years, he’d been tormented by the People. They bullied him in school; they never understood when he spoke, for he wasn’t from wherever it was he’d drifted to when…
I’m currently reading REDACTED by REDACTED (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Okay, it’s REDACTED‘s 9th book, written under a pen name as a new novelist. However, she has convinced me it’s a debut novel, given I’m on page 74 and still don’t care for any of her characters except the lead’s sidekick. Someone or something…
By my estimation, I’m 98,000 words into a 108,000 word book. My detectives have solved the case, and now all that’s left is to try to apprehend the culprit. Oh, that it were so easy. I knocked out about 3,000 words tonight that I think will end up being increased instead of tightened. I’ll be…
The Artists' Sanctum 