Listen to Don DeLillo explain his creative process to NPR’s Terry Gross.
The Outline
Outlines are for term papers, not works of art … right? Not if you’re trying to stick to a routine and maximize your time.
Get Back, Jack
Looking for a way to channel your inner Jack Kerouac? Or maybe you just feel like having a few drinks and people-watching in a café. Either way – this post is for you.
An Outlet Of One’s Own
Looking for that perfect place to pen your poem or story? What authors should look for in a coffee shop … apologies to Virginia Woolf for the title.
The Art of the Short Story
Stuck on your short story? This post might help you figure out a way forward.
Run With It
I used to be a pretty good athlete, decades ago. In high school I was the Oklahoma state champion in the pole vault 2 years running, and took second place another year. Over the years, I’ve kept in shape by approaching workouts like eating, or sleeping: something that has to be done almost every day, [...]
Go Big or Go Home
It’s been a trying couple of weeks here in Aspiring Authorland. After plodding along at a pretty regular clip on a novel and completing about 1/3 of the first draft, I submitted it to an editor and asked for some objective input on how it was going.
Needless to say, his eyes didn’t open wide with [...]
And Now, For Something Completely Different
We went camping this weekend, 7 (or was it 8?) families at a beautiful lake in west Texas. I was stressing about losing the weekend, which is usually prime writing time, to the fun but mindless task of packing, driving, unpacking, cooking, herding kids, organizing hikes, etc. and worried that it would eat into my [...]
Telling Stories
My oldest daughter has been observing my novel writing process with the eyes of a hawk. The other night she sidled up to me as I was working and asked if I would help her write her own book.
“What do you want to write about?” I asked.
“Books.”
“What about books?”
“I don’t know,” she sat down. “Something [...]
Growing Pains
Nobody’s perfect.
Even the modern day messiah, Barack Obama, has a character flaw – he smokes. So when you’re writing your breakout novel, screenplay or short story, make sure to give your character a few flaws that they can wrestle with and, hopefully, overcome through adversity.
Some of the best examples of this writing tactic tie subtle [...]