I’ve written about incorporating your hobbies into your work but recently have pondered the opportunities in directly writing on those interests. In much the same fashion as what I’m doing here, writing about your passion is fun. I’ll extend that to any pursuit. If you want to be a writer, filmmaker, painter, actor, etc. start … Continue reading Writing About Hobbies
Tag: Short Story
Mere Worth
The pink nail polish on the dollar bill brought a few questions to Stutshi’s mind. ‘What kind of girl could he ever get? Half a fossil… He was a good tipper.’ She scrunched up the dollar and the nail polish cracked in several places revealing the purple paper underneath. ‘Cheap stuff. I wear better nail … Continue reading Mere Worth
As We Go Up, We Go Down
“I never liked this man.” “I know mom. You’ve said so many times.” “But look at his face. He’s the mouth of a fish on dry land.” My mother was complaining about Tucker Carson on the blinking TV in her hospital room. As she’d relayed, she didn’t like his “tactic” of hanging his mouth open … Continue reading As We Go Up, We Go Down
Solely Spoken
After rereading Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants I noticed a similarity in style to that story and what I’m currently writing. There’s a high bar of quality to match and it has me contemplating the techniques used and how else they can be applied. If you’ve never read the story go straight there. It’s four … Continue reading Solely Spoken
Clearing Out Infodumps
Even with the best intentions, you’ll write yourself into a predicament expounding on your story’s background information. Sometimes it’s necessary as you’re attempting to figure out what’s happening in your story because rambling about the broader facts and setting your characters contend with helps clear up where the story goes next and why. Actions gain … Continue reading Clearing Out Infodumps
Low Budget Novels
Monetary restrictions have been a driving force of creativity in many artistic fields. In film especially the limitation summed up in the expression, “If you want ten explosions, you have to make ten explosions.” The infinite imagination pulled down to earth by the finite resources at hand. Scenes are rewritten. Cinematography techniques modified or invented … Continue reading Low Budget Novels
Ode to Old Technology
On a curveball spur of energy, I decided to take out an old piece of kit. That was the start of an hour of grief and consternation from what was meant to be a few minutes of quiet enjoyment. Near a decade ago I was gifted a portable digital audio converter (DAC) from an audiophile … Continue reading Ode to Old Technology
Setting Up the Bar
I want to run through an exercise for something I’m not particularly versed in. Though that statement gives me an easy out, as I often sit on the writer scale’s far discovery end I don’t put much thought to new environments when I’m building on the preexisting characters. Locations and places have always been barebones … Continue reading Setting Up the Bar
Vignettes and the Baton Pass
When my writings turn exploratory or freewheeling, my favorite story structure is the vignette. Unhindered by ongoing plot bloat, naturally disposed to changes in tempo and pacing, the vignette is a neat little tool for when you want to write a varied, shifting story featuring a pantheon of characters and their different perspectives. Every input … Continue reading Vignettes and the Baton Pass
What Lies Under that Mountain?
The pale morning sun brushed Gregory’s cheek as he pulled his blanket over his plump face. After a minute’s battle with the brightness he shielded his eyes as best he could and looked out over a full panorama of Tipharia. His home was lost between the many roofs, trees, and swathed pastel blur under the … Continue reading What Lies Under that Mountain?
Colin Klawans 