In over ten years’ worth of novels, I have written maybe three kissing scenes. (I’ve written more for plays, but that’s kinda cheating, because you just write, “They completely devour each other’s faces with tongue and everything for, like, ten minutes!” and then the actors have to do it. Ha…
(Come see The Dark Room! We’re having a blast, and you will too! Only five shows left!) Apparently, one of the things famous writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror are forever getting asked is, “Where do you get your ideas?” Even a mostly unpublished writer like me can see…
I’ve been having a blast working with Socratic Theatre Collective on my play The Dark Room, which opens this Thursday in Toronto at Unit 102 (COME SEE IT! More information here). It’s been amazing working with friends old and new to develop the script, helping with some backstage aspects of…
This is a strange confession to find myself making, but I’m obsessed with fictional ghosts.
The other day, I went to a day-long workshop on how to be a better teaching assistant. And, unluckily for you, it got me thinking. But before I explain what it got me thinking about, let me back up to undergrad for a second. A lot of the classes I…
No, this blog entry isn’t a game of One-of-These-Things-Is-Not-Like-the-Others. Last week, I attended the Reading Artifacts Summer Institute at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Many thanks to all those who recommended, organized, and participated; I gained some amazing perspectives on the work I do as an aspiring historian. But…
(If you’re wondering about the title, Google it. I dare you.* In other news, HAPPY FATHER’S DAY and MY DAD IS AWESOME.) Once upon a time, there was a teenager named Sarah. She was part of a student Shakespeare-in-the-Park training program. Among other roles, one of the parts she played…
The fiction writer’s dilemma is this: you can’t improve without feedback from readers. But you can’t get feedback from readers without showing them things that definitely need improvement.
Here is something a writer like me — who plunges headlong into exciting made-up situations but hates thinking of all the ramifications — hears a lot from her critique partners: I didn’t get it. “I didn’t get it” is a frustrating critique, not because it isn’t useful but because, well,…
One of the main rules of writing a mystery, present in almost every how-to book you’ll come across, is this: the reader must feel that he could’ve solved the mystery along with the protagonist, if he were as smart as she is. Now, this is very similar to another potential…