It’s a seductive idea, that there could be a ‘line in the sand’ marking an absolute transition from one thing to another. I suppose it’s the absoluteness that’s appealing in a world many have come to think of as murky and ambiguous. I was reminded of the power of that need for definition recently when… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Writing
Pulp Fiction
I can imagine your breath catching when you first saw the title of this blog post. That’s not like Sidney, critiquing the racy stuff, commenting on…well who knows what? If you were born, or just became a young adult after WW II, your reaction to the label ‘Pulp Fiction’ is predictable, and undoubtedly much the… Continue Reading
Foreground, Middle-Ground, Background
Looking at a visual image through photography, video, paint or our own eyes, we’re aware of objects in three dimensions. They inhabit different grounds, and that gives them diverse prominence and meaning; all pretty obvious, except when we start to pay attention to the details drawing us into the story. I’ve been paying a… Continue Reading
Never Look Back, Children
Never look back. That warning must be embedded in our historic memory, springing from one of the myths we were raised on. There were always dire consequences associated with the rejection of the advice to keep eyes forward. Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of potassium chloride, and poor Orpheus lost his beloved Eurydice thanks… Continue Reading
Character Building
Where do they come from, those fascinating, complex, enigmatic-yet-familiar characters who populate our favorite fiction? Writers are always asked that; by their readers, friends and even other writers. Like much of the art we love most, the answers are as varied as the characters themselves. There’s no right way to bring them to life, and… Continue Reading
Passe-par-tout
People often ask me if I’m “disciplined” about the number of hours I spend writing, and what goes on in my day to produce my best and newest work. What they really want to know is if I have a creative routine. I answer by explaining that a lot… Continue Reading