Picture features James Clear Quote: “Motivation is overrated, environment often matters more.”
Two minutes on any social media platform will find you a thousand memes and articles on motivation. Most are hokey "you can do it" phrases and rarely will you find discussion on why various motivations matter.
Zuck's motivation for creating Facebook was banal - he wanted to get laid. The GOP's motivations are transparently transactional - more money, more power, more racism, more misogyny....
There's Something Wrong
There's something wrong with my biology,
a flaw inside my complicated mind,
to make me want to write a trilogy.
Conceptually, it is a symphony,
six movements without meter, without rhyme;
there's something wrong with my biology
that shapes a story from soliloquies.
There must be depths that I have yet to mine
to make me want to write a trilogy.
Analogous, like all analogies,
I cannot see my neurons, yet I find
there's something wrong with my biology.
The scan came back, my...
There's Something Wrong
There's something wrong with my biology,
a flaw inside my complicated mind,
to make me want to write a trilogy.
Conceptually, it is a symphony,
six movements without meter, without rhyme;
there's something wrong with my biology
that shapes a story from soliloquies.
There must be depths that I have yet to mine
to make me want to write a trilogy.
Analogous, like all analogies,
I cannot see my neurons, yet I find
there's something wrong with my biology.
The scan came back for my...
Sometimes I can be doing chores, walking the dog, watching TV, or a host of other activities when the urge hits me - WRITE!!!
And if I neglect that internal command I often pay the price by forgetting what my thought was, forgetting the exact plot twist or word usage that inspired me, forgetting that I am a writer who has no choice but to write - whenever the urge hits me.
What's worse, is forgetting what you wanted to write WHEN you're in the middle of writing it!
We all have our crosses to...
Very few people still use a pen and paper for writing but I definitely do for keeping character notes, geographic notes, plot profiles, that sort of thing.
But when it comes to the actual story itself, it's laptop and/or phone. I used to be a "laptop only" guy but converted to the phone when I realized how handy it is to access Google and other research, in real-time, while you're writing.
Both phone and laptop have their benefits and downsides so it is individual choice, sometimes in the...
When you are in the business of creating characters you will eventually be faced with the question: "Should I kill this character off?" And very soon after that, " ... and how should I kill him or her?"
Some characters are easier to kill off than others. An evil dictator, morally repugnant, with little to no redeeming features, is quite easy to kill. Sometimes, it can even be fun. Or cathartic. A heroine with a kindly and pleasant disposition, someone who continually does good deeds, and...
I have lived in multiple cities around the world, and visited many more.
One thing I have learned is that the Eagles were correct in their song, The Last Resort,
when they say " ... call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye."
Nowhere is perfect but some places are more "human" than others.
I came to Calgary, Canada, because there are many humans here - and I happen to love humans.
Calgary, and Canada overall, are not perfect but they try to get as close as they can. Do they always succeed? No. Do...
Way back in the 20th century, authors would mail out book copies to newspaper columnist journalists or magazine journalists in hope of getting a favorable review. And they would complain about the cost of postage and how long they had to wait to see if they got reviewed or not.
Even though we had functional email from the early 90's it was not really fully implemented as a marketing vehicle or solid alternative to snail-mail until the 2000's. Even then, it was the advent of social media...
To be a writer or not, that is indeed the question for anyone flirting with a literary career.
It may come easy for you, or you may have to work at it. Either way, you must get to the point where compulsion and love and need outweigh the vagaries of money, fame, and recognition, else you collapse under the weight of the idea instead of rising to each potential height.
This blog, and this website have nothing to do with the heading at all.
In each of the categories above, there is a small army of people ready to take your hard-earned money for the "secret" to success. If you fail, you mustn't have done it right or you didn't send enough money.
Throughout human history scams all look different but they are fundamentally the same, whether someone is selling you a piece of the original Cross, a piece of the Berlin Wall, a digital marketing solution or an AI bot...
Most of you would have seen the unflattering balloon version of Donald Trump, wannabe dictator of the United States. They have popped up all over the world - at least in countries where they don't deport you to an El Salvadorean prison.
So, I thought, why not feature the same on the cover of a poetry book?
I don't care what your politics are, whether you consider yourself a "conservative" or a "liberal" or something in-between. Trump has nothing to do with politics as you think you know it. He...
Some of you will be familiar with the Three Graces, also known as the Charites. In Greek mythology, they are goddesses who personify beauty, charm, and grace. They are usually depicted as a group of three, and are often associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.
My painting "The Three Disgraces" (pictured) was created as a "metaphoric analogy" to the Greek myth.
In my writing, particularly in my poetry, I tend to employ metaphor and analogy a great deal. Meaning, real...
Stephen Donaldson once wrote, and I paraphrase, that "good fiction is a blend of the exotic and the mundane". This is never truer than in the creation of characters.
How many of your characters have personality traits of people you've met, people you like, people you dislike or even hate? Can you honestly say your character is pure creation, with no experiential input? I doubt it, and that's OK. A good character grows and evolves with the story, reacts in different ways to different scenarios,...
This painting in entitled, "Elegy" by Louis Kahan, and I was the proud owner of a limited edition print of this piece for many years. I had the chance to meet Louis before he passed and he was as remarkable a man as he was an artist. This man actually fought with the French Foreign Legion - one of his many rare accomplishments!
A great painting or drawing is like a favored sibling or cousin to great literature. Both evoke feelings. memories and thoughts that are either new, or old ones...
Everyone should have a dog, and mine is Blu.
If I spend too long on my laptop Blu trots in and growls at me, reminding me that it's time to play. If I'm too focused on my phone, Blu nudges me with his battering ram nose to let me know that belly rubs are now overdue. If my table is covered with papers with character sketches and world maps and other esoterica, Blu drops one or more of his toys onto my workspace to remind me about what's important - him!
Interruptions are necessary for a writer....
As a child I had access to lots of books and was actively encouraged to read. Which I did. A lot.
At the age of 7 or 8 I attempted to read The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales. I tried and tried but couldn't make sense of the archaic language and turns of phrase. Using the dictionary only helped a little.
Over the span of the next few years I came back to those books, and each time I was able to read a little bit more, understand a little bit more. By the time I got to High School Shakespeare...
Seeming effortlessness.
When an author has done all the hard homework of clarifying physics laws, determining the precise mechanics of spacecraft, calculating detailed demographic and topographic information of multiple worlds, and working out how various beings interact n such a universe, the end effect seems effortless.
As with all stories, a detailed back story and history, a clear plotline and sub-plots, and excellent descriptive and conversational writing are necessary as well. But the...
In Alberta, a writer named Roy
found a book that he thought he'd enjoy;
he read all the words,
thought they were absurd,
and now Roy from Alberta, annoyed!
It happens to all of us. We're browsing a pile of books when a striking cover peaks our interest. It might be striking artwork, an edgy title, a good looking man or woman. Whatever the hook, it works and we end up buying the book.
When we get home and open the book, one of two things happen: it is either even better than we anticipated or it is...
As a writer, how much time do you spend thinking about fonts?
I admit to spending way too much time arguing the merits of Times Roman vs Arial, or Helvetica vs Calibri or which "exotic" font works best for a cover.
Do I bold or italicize my font? Which justification format works best? Will the literary gods smite me down if I choose incorrectly? What if my readers are offended by my font choice?
In the end I usually decide that there is too much noise inside my head over friggin' fonts. Times...
Much has been written about the works of Nostradamus and there is a library of literature covering the so-called biblical prophets. For me, one of the greatest prophets of all time is Terry Gilliam, best known as the animator for the Monty Python films.
The movie, Brazil was released in 1985 - forty years ago! If you haven't seen it do yourself a favor and watch it two or three times. Preferably, with a notepad. Remember the year it was made while you're watching and you will begin to see why...