Psst. . .
C’mere.
I’ve got a secret.
Promise not to tell? (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘creative writing’
Nothing to See Here
Posted in Creativity, Writing, tagged creative writing, novel writing on 12 Dec 2017| 6 Comments »
No Pepys I
Posted in Culture, Writing, tagged anais nin, creative writing, diary, journaling, samuel pepys, writing through the pain on 17 Nov 2017| 1 Comment »
Bad diarist! No biscuit!
Back during The Event, I once again started a journal. I’ve kept a journal, off and on, for most of my life (though it’s definitely been more off than on). Like many diarists, I pick up my journal in times of strife and pain, writing each day (or more often) to rant, moan, analyze, introspect, and claw my way back toward something that resembles sanity. As the drama subsides, however, my journalistic fervor wanes in response; I am simply not compelled to catalogue the minutiae of my days.
And that is the point at which I begin to feel a sense of failure. (more…)
Meeting Ben
Posted in Culture, Writing, tagged creative writing, currency, family, nostalgia, one hundred dollar bill on 07 Nov 2017| Leave a Comment »
I’d heard of them long before I saw one in the wild. Rare, elusive, they were things of power and legend. Sure, I saw them in movies, but I knew those were fakes; we all did.
The C-note. The Benjamin. One hundred smackeroos.
I was nine years old when I saw my first one.
We were at Tiburon Tommie’s, the Chinese restaurant of my youth, a place where the drinks menu was long and fixed, and the food menu was short and subject to change. (more…)
Trial Balloon: Boosting a Post
Posted in Writing, tagged boosting posts, creative writing, Facebook, indie authors, marketing, self-publishing on 30 Oct 2017| Leave a Comment »
Two weeks ago, I tried an experiment.
As some of you know, in addition to this blog I have a Facebook page for my writing, which feeds through to my Twitter account. (I don’t like Twitter, but I’m not convinced it’s useless.) Posts here also go to my LinkedIn profile, to Google+, and to Tumblr.
I don’t have too many readers here—hundreds, but not thousands—and membership on my Facebook page is . . . modest, if you catch my drift . . . but I figured that this situation was the perfect foundation for a small experiment.
In short, I ran an ad. (more…)
Putting Pen to Paper
Posted in Writing, tagged building believable characters, creative writing, indie authors, novel writing on 12 Oct 2017| 2 Comments »
Going back over early notes for this novel, I realized that this project has been rattling around in my head for over a decade.
The first outline I wrote up has a note on the top: Tabled Jan 2004.
Initially, this was very depressing. (more…)
The End of Research
Posted in Seattle, Writing, tagged creative writing, novel writing, Seattle history, writing research on 28 Sep 2017| 4 Comments »
Fish or cut bait. Poop or get off the pot. Split wood or lend someone the axe.
During the run-up to a novel project, there comes a time when I must put down the books and pick up the pen. My problem, though, has usually been knowing when I’ve reached that point, that moment of sufficiency when, though I certainly don’t know everything about the pertinent subjects, I know enough to get started.
Now is that time. (more…)
It Doesn’t Take Much
Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing, Poetry, vignettes, Writing on 21 Jul 2017| Leave a Comment »
summer’s iron hand
beats me with light
with heat
my mind winces
whipped dog shying
hiding in darkened corners
then, for a few hours
clouds bring respite
moisture’s brief touch
salves my skin
saves my soul
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 