Wilder is a novel idea I've had floating around in the back of my thoughts for a long time. I'm quite fond of it, but with Extinguish and Riverwood being my current novel projects (and another one or two stories floating in the wings of those), I decided to turn it into a short story instead.
-
-
Dear Reader, One of my favourite things at University was writing exercises that got you thinking either about sensory techniques, or about the craft of writing. One of the last exercises I remember doing is the one sentence exercise – in which you practice writing a paragraph that consists mostly of one sentence, using perfectly reasonable writing techniques. The following is a result of that exercise. It technically consists of two sentences, but it’s the second sentence that shows the mashing of different sentence techniques. Let me know what you think or feel free to post your own One Sentence Exercise – I’d be happy to read them! Sincerely, The Jade…
-
They lay on a queen sized bed, side by side, yet not touching. ‘How’s this one feel? It’s big.’ ‘Yeah, it’s okay.’ ‘Too big?’ ‘It’s okay. Could you move over?’ ‘Nope. Anything other than okay?’ ‘Not really. You’re too close.’ ‘The last one was bigger, was that better?’ ‘That was okay too.’ ‘Do you maybe want to use a word other than okay?’ ‘I like okay.’ ‘Ugh.’ A moment of quiet, then one—the taller one—begins to flop and bounce, wriggling around on the bed in a gyrating motion. ‘What…are you doing?’ ‘Testing the bounce.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Useful information. Uh, excuse me! Miss!’—an attendant rushes over, a questioning look on her face—‘Can…
-
Week two of my Writerly Aspirations is here and with it, two new stories. While I am still striving to meet my ten chapter quota, and my reading quota, I am happy that I’ve managed to stay on track with these mini stories. For my first short story of 2017 I drew on my novel Extinguish. One of my characters, Freddie, is mute and I’ve been toying with the idea of writing from his perspective for a long time. So I did. I’m actually really fond of how this turned out. It encompasses much of what I think is missed in my novel of Freddie’s personality and inner dialogue. I won’t…
-
Dear Reader, I like to keep records of things that connect with me on some deeper level than just enjoyment. You’ve seen me mention Big Magic already, and you’ll no doubt see me mention it more. The entirety of Big Magic is one example of something that connects with me on, well I guess you could call it a spiritual level. It hits me right in the chest, in that “yeah, I know about this.” spot. If you’ve ever had one of these moments, then you’ll know the spot I’m talking about. It’s the place that intuition and imagination stem from. While I haven’t read the book, the film adaption of Cloud…
-
I suggest several options: either return it yourself, take it up with God, or consult your local witch council - whichever you prefer.
-
Wanting to write - really wanting to write - means shutting up, sitting down and actually doing it
-
Dear reader, If there is anything I have learned over the past several years, it is that I am very good at rewriting things. My current book (the not-so-well-loved, often-times-bemoaned novel Extinguish), is on it’s ninth draft, and second edit. When I refer to drafts, I talk about major rewrites and overhauls. That doesn’t include all the little (and by little I mean the entire book) edits I did of each draft. This time, I’ve decided to shift a pivotal event to a later point in the novel, and to also cut a central character. I still have to rewrite the new ending (I canned the old one in draft…
-
Dear Reader, We haven’t formally met, and we probably never will. At least not in person. But let me express here an now, how very honoured I am to enter into this magical experience of telepathy with you. To me, this is what being a writer is all about. It’s about the words, it’s about the readers, and it’s about the telepathy. The magic. Stephen King talks about this idea best in his book On Writing. What we are doing, is engaging in a one-way form of telepathy. One that transcends time and space. Here I am, sitting on my lounge room couch somewhere in Queensland, Australia, still in my pyjama’s. There’s a half-cup…
