The Bad Scene

Sometimes you sit back after a long day on the book, pounding the keys, and realize that none of your three happy phrases that signal a good work day are coming to mind. No not too bad, that'll work, or the rare but blissful, hey that's good!

Instead, your critical faculties are hemming and hawing like a parent presented with an impossible-to-decipher crayon masterpiece. Finally, your brain admits the truth: That scene? That you just killed yourself on? That scene is bad. Read more

So I've been thinking about POV of late, partly because I recently read a bunch of books in first person, partly because I'm working on a new novel with a first person narrator—who may or may not stay that way.

As a general rule, as a reader, I dislike first person because it's too easy for me to walk away from the book.

I've tried to figure what bothers me about first person and it comes down to these few things: Read more

Oh, the pet project. . . . I've decided I want to do something with it. So it's time for revision. The problem is: the pet project was fun to write but it's a monster to revise. A lot of the things I let slide in a pet project are just no good at all in a real novel. Chapter two, I'm looking at you and your nested flashback. Long flashbacks are tricky at the best of times. A nested flashback? Is an abomination. I'm pretty sure they take away your writing license for committing it, unless you're doing it with exquisite artistry. This nested flashback? No artistry. Read more

Starting a new book always intimidates and thrills me in equal portions. There's so much work to be done before the prose ever starts. I'm a bit of a clockwork writer--things have to go in a certain order before the book begins, and at this point, I don't know if that process is necessary or just my way of winding my brain up. Read more

So, I've been revising the Beasts, filling in all the blanks--*cough* setting *cough*-- adding those things that make a novel work better--you know, things like character conflict, like foreshadowing, like PLOT--and I've gotten up to chapter five. Read more

While trying to organize my study again (and again and again and again--it is the Augean Stables of my house) I found a notepad with the following written on it:

New Story!  (note the exclamation point.  I was, apparently, excited about it.)

Start w/aftermath:  When the hotel failed to be devoured by a nightmare-headed god-thing, there

And THAT'S IT!   Read more