(early post — chag sameach, happy Passover!) Literary theorist and critic Roland Barthes once wrote that the author is dead.
Yes, writing is a lot of work. Yes, it can be for very little gain. Yes, carrying your notebook everywhere can strain your arms (OK, not really that last one). But let’s be frank: I (and you and a ton of other fantastic people) do it, even when we know…
Writing a story is like old-school Tetris. And we’re talking Game Boy Tetris here. Grey pixels on greeny-yellow background. No block “ghosts” to show you where your drop will end up. None of this T-spin-to-win nonsense. Back in my day, the tetronimos were heavy and froze the instant they even looked…
Everyone knows that romance novels are for women. And so are stories that focus on who’s hopping into whose bed and which couples will end up together. Everyone also knows that those kinds of stories are inferior. Why would anyone who’s not a woman want to watch (ugh!) The Notebook…
Gamification is a big idea these days. People in a variety of fields realize that games — often video games in particular — have a lot to teach us, whether it’s how to deal with a deranged computer forcing us through ever-more-dangerous tests or that bards can be spoony. When…
(But first, happy birthday to my friend Grace :) And many more!!!) Writing is a lot more difficult for me in the winter. Well, most things are a lot more difficult for me in the winter. My body just wants to sleep whenever it’s dark out, there’s a whole new…
Back in the day, when I was an eager Harry Potter fan anticipating the next book, J. K. Rowling’s interviews intrigued me. The authors of the series I’d loved before were all dead; no one could post C. S. Lewis’s answers to fan questions online or ask E. Nesbit what…
(In Which Sarah’s Campfire Imagery Gets Out of Control) For most writers, random ideas are a dime a dozen. I read the news, I watch a TV show I almost like, I daydream a kick-butt action scene where I use hockey and my PhD research to fight off Moriarty, and boom: I…
Three totally easy steps: 1. Do not have children, (a) significant other(s), family, or friends. 2. Do not have a job or hobbies. 3. Put everyone else in a spaceship and send them on a tour of the galaxy at the speed of light so while they experience only a…
(But first… happy birthday, A.! You probably don’t want to be associated with this blog entry, but TOO BAD! HAHAHA.) I believe in writing the scenes that serve the story. If I’m too embarrassed to try my hand at a scene that my story needs, then I’m writing the wrong…