Today was a tough day. Like many of you reading this, I work a job in order to keep the lights on. I’ve been writing for over two years now, and in my current state, don’t earn enough from my novella series to write full time. So, as part of my ongoing quest to keep food on the table, I’ve been job hunting recently. That’s what […]
Novel Writing 12: My Plotting & Pacing Process.
I’m now over 25,000 words into the first draft of my latest novel. As things continue to come together, I’ve been thinking about the techniques I use to bring my plot together and keep it punchy. Before I started writing my current trilogy, I sat down and worked through a series of world-building exercises, which helped me to create the topography and setting of the Empire. My […]
What’s Next? A Lesson from David Bowie & Anna Wintour.
“Ok, what’s next?” A few months ago, I had the privilege of visiting David Bowie Is, an exhibition that catalogued the life and career of David Bowie. With his passing yesterday, I’ve found myself reflecting on a man who had an enormous impact on pop culture over five decades, and in particular, Bowie’s refusal to stay still. It’s cliche to say that David Bowie refused to […]
Revisiting an Old Classic.
Well, maybe it’s not quite a classic, but it’s where I started. Yesterday I finished reformatting my original steampunk mystery novella, What Went Wrong With Mrs Milliard’s Mech? Editing the novella was an enlightening experience to say the least, one that was spurred on by a review I received on Amazon almost a year ago, which used my novella to complain about the death of the English language. […]
Edits, Edits, and More Edits.
One down, six to go! I’ve finished the first edit of my manuscript as of Sunday, and it’s a fantastic feeling! Going through a manuscript with fresh eyes is important, especially for finding slow points, or areas that need more clarity. I’ve ended up with about eight pages of notes, and plenty to do. One thing that I enjoyed about this edit was revisiting a few […]
