Embedded within this paragraph is an “error.” Can you find it? Is it glaringly obvious? I’m guessing that it isn’t. In fact, I’d bet that until I point it out to you, you won’t realize it’s there. Want a hint? It’s not grammatical. It’s not punctuation, either. It’s . . . Wait for it. Wait for it. . .
Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
Two, Please
Posted in Books, Writing, tagged creative writing, manuscript format, sentence spacing, typesetting, typography, Writing on 26 Aug 2014| 11 Comments »
Unexpected Interest
Posted in Books, Writing, tagged alternate history, books, creative writing, historical fiction, marketing, novel writing, novels, publishing, self-publishing, Sumner, Sumner Public Library, WA, Writing, writing tips on 04 Aug 2014| Leave a Comment »
Sometimes, the word “interesting” isn’t enough.
This weekend past, as well as being sad, stressful, productive, lazy, and maddening, was also interesting.
It was the 31st anniversary of my wedding. It was the yahrzeit of the death of my wife’s mother. It was a weekend of plans, and of disrupted plans. It was a weekend with three reservations to the same restaurant, each one made and canceled in daily succession. It was a weekend of editing, rereading and rewriting my latest short story (“The Book of Solomon”), proofing it, polishing it, and then sending it off to a paying market.
It was also the weekend when I got an email from the Senior Librarian in Sumner, WA, asking if I’d be interested in participating in a panel, this October.
Yeah, “interesting” doesn’t really cover it.
What Once Was Lost
Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing, file management methods, metro bus, Poetry, Writing on 17 Jul 2014| Leave a Comment »
I’ve never really been one who lost things. (Except for gloves. I used to lose gloves all the time.) And I’m especially good about computer files. After once losing the first three chapters of a novel, I got really strict about my file management methods.
So, back in the mid-Naughties, when I “lost” a handful of poems, I was pretty mad at myself. Granted, I had a couple of “vascular events” during that time, brought on by workload and stress, but still, I was disappointed. I mean, how can you “lose” a computer file? Luckily, I was able to recreate most of them from offsite storage, but a few were lost and gone forever.
Then, two days ago, while editing my latest short story, I noticed a folder in my “Writing” directory. The folder was labeled: Poetry.
Guess what I found in there.
Here’s one of them: Non-Euclidean Geometry
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Keeping Track
Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing, manuscript tracking, short fiction, short story writing, Writing, writing tips on 10 Jul 2014| 4 Comments »
Okay, so I don’t always think things through.
Ages ago, when I was writing nothing but short fiction and sending out MSS to the far corners of the publishing world, I had an idea for a computer application for writers. It was a struggle to keep track of where my dozens of MSS were; where they out with a publisher? For how long? Too long?
So I thought: What if you could enter the names of all your MSS into an app, note when you sent it out, and keep track of where everything was and how long it had been there?
It seemed like a good idea, and so I cracked my knuckles and began to write the code for my MSTracker app.
Old Dog Meets New Trick
Posted in Writing, tagged Characters, creative writing, short stories, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips on 08 Jul 2014| 2 Comments »
After successfully avoiding pen and paper during my recent vacation (Thank you, World Cup!) on Sunday I finally grabbed myself by the collar, sat myself down at the deck table, put a pen in my hand and paper before me, and started the short story that has been nipping at my heels like a poorly trained corgi for nearly a month.
I started writing at about 7AM Sunday and finished it at around 11PM. It clocked in at about 3000 words.
For me, that is fast writing. But that wasn’t the interesting bit.
Writing Process Blog Tour – Station Four
Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing, j z murdock, novel writing, Seattle, The Fallen Cloud Saga, todd baker, Writing, writing process, writing process blog tour, writing techniques on 24 Jun 2014| 6 Comments »
Welcome one, welcome all, to the fourth stop on the Writing Process Blog Tour, one of those writerly process-ish bloggy tour-like things that we use as an excuse to talk about our passion: writing.
My name is Kurt, and I’ll be your host for as long as you keep reading.
Thanks to my predecessor, J.Z. Murdock, author of darkness, for the invitation to join the tour.
The premise is simple. At each stop along the tour, the author talks about his/her writing processes, and then hands you off to the next writer in line. (Todd…you ready?)
It’s just four simple questions:
- What am I working on?
- How does my work differ from others in its genre?
- Why do I write what I do?
- How does my writing process work?
Still here? Good.
Here we go…
Running the Zoo
Posted in Culture, Writing, tagged chef, cooking, curator, dream job, horologist, symphony conductor, what is your dream job, Writing on 19 Jun 2014| 6 Comments »
The other day a friend asked me what my “dream job” would be. The phrase that leapt to mind was: independently wealthy, incredibly influential, international food critic.
Then I gave the question a little thought. What would be my dream job?
The fact that I did not pick my current job–Software Developer–was no great surprise. Neither was the fact that I did not choose any job I’ve had in the past. Some people may find pumping gas or running a web-press fulfilling, but I found the former stultifying and the latter terrifying.
Curiously, though, neither did I did not pick one of my current avocations, i.e., “Writer” or “Chef.”
For “Chef,” I know too well how much work and dedication that job really takes to make a living at it; I get enough of a workout just cooking for my small family. For the “Writer” job, well, let’s just say that I got close to that, know how unstable the industry is and how unreliable writing income can be; I just can’t put my family through that kind of financial and emotional stress year after year.
So, what would be my dream job? Eventually, I settled on three:
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 