Or, rather, on not revising for a deadline. See, it’s easy to decide on an arbitrary deadline, the date by which my story or chapter should be done. I’m really good at that. The hard — nay, impossible — part is actually meeting it. I don’t think this is because I’m bad at revising.…
If you go to the theatre or catch an occasional Shakespeare-in-the-park, you have probably seen A Midsummer Night’s Dream. If you are a performer, you’ve almost certainly been in at least one production of the play. A Midsummer Night’s Dream has everything contemporary theatre companies can hope for: name recognition, fun parts…
Labour Day is fast approaching, and with it the crisp weather and colourful foliage of fall. If, like me, you work in academia or education, the more intense part of your job is on the horizon (or already here, depending on whether, like me, you left all your planning for the end…
I’ve learned a lot about creative work from video games: puzzle-making, entertainment design principles, and plot construction. But video games have also taught me about other important things in my life. Namely, about myself. And what have I learned? Well…
What do you write when you can’t think of anything to write? I mean, apart from nothing at all. Shut up, literalists. … I’ll come in again. What do you write when you can’t think of anything to write?
NO SPOILERS FOR ANY MISSION IN THIS REVIEW! I ONLY MENTION STUFF YOU GET TOLD BEFORE YOU EVER GO INTO THE ROOMS! Full disclosure: I am not affiliated with Escape Games Toronto or any of their staff. My friends and I went to play Escape from Bleak Prison there this…
(tl;dr — because I am contrary!) CBS’s Elementary and the BBC’s Sherlock are the most well known current television updates of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Both follow the adventures of the Great Detective and his bff, Watson, transposed into the 21st century, with a healthy helping of original plot and characters. Judging by…
There are some books that make me want to grab the main characters by the scruffs of their necks, sit them down, and order, “OK. You, tell him what you saw. You, tell her the thing you learned from the guy. NOW STOP RUNNING AROUND DOING USELESS THINGS AND HELP EACH OTHER.”…
One of the reasons my first novel manuscript took me years to complete, despite being relatively short and simple, was passion. I loved my story — you have to, to pull off writing of that length — but sometimes I didn’t feel like working on it.
Dear Swiss Army Knife (Victorinox Recruit model in red, to be specific), I’m sorry. I failed you. If I’d remembered you were in the inner pocket of my backpack, of course I would have taken you out and left you at home before going through airport security. That I opted…