Hal Duncan's Blog, page 22

How to Write a Paragraph

So, having covered the basics of how to write a functional sentence of narrative, I thought it made sense to scale that up to the paragraph level. To kick off then, let's find some material to work with, turning again to The Eye of Argon, the very opening this time:The weather beaten trail wound ahead into the dust racked climes of the baren land which dominates large portions of the Norgolian

Ten Rules for a New Writer

So, you may have seen this before when I posted a link to the interview outtakes on Craig Gidney's blog that I'm cribbing from. But I thought I'd bring it over here to stand as an intro to a sort of Writing 101 series of entries. Once this is posted I'll be wiring it into the menu above, and if you look under the Analysis menu option you should see a Writing 101... option, with a submenu for

Oh, yes, and... BFS Awards 2012...

I AM JUDGING YOU!Along with fellow jurists:James BarclayMaura McHughEsther ShermanDamien G. WalterSo I hope all you BFS members are nominating some cool shit for me to read.

How to Write a Sentence

In the paid critiques I do for the Writers' Workshop, I'm often faced with writers with a level of narrative prose so rudimentary that I really can't just tell them it needs polish in this respect or that; I pretty much have to tell them the basics of how to write a sentence. Of narrative, that is. Even when the prose is perfectly acceptable as prose in and of itself, there can be so much that's

Cities of Flesh

From a couple of years back, a series of cityscapes constructed as collages of gay pornography. You may well have seen these before, if you've been following this blog for a while; I figured I'd collate them into a single post while I'm transferring links from the sidebar to the menu.1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8:9:10:11:12:13:14:

I Forgot to Say...

I finished the next novel. Finally.Yes, it's been... a long time, to put it mildly, the last few years having mostly, it seemed, consisted of running excitedly ahead on this or that project, and slamming face-first into a brick wall after just enough steps to get up the optimum speed for breaking one's nose. OK, let's get this show on the road, let's get the ball rolling, fire up the creative

Bless That Lethe

My reading material for the forseeable:Currently reading:Next up:And check out the ToC in this:That is all.

The Toymaker's Grief (Polish)

Daleko, daleko temuDaleko, daleko temu żył sobie raz – a może dwa lub trzy razy – zabawkarz z piękną żoną i czarującą córką. Później żył sobie zabawkarz z czarującą córką. Później żył już tylko zabawkarz, sam po pogrzebie, gdy wszyscy żałobnicy już wyszli, ubrany w swój najlepszy czarny garnitur, siedział bez ruchu na zasłanym łóżku w zimnym pokoju, w cichym domu, po prostu siedział,

Styx Water and a Sippy Cup

I decided to do a reading for your viewing pleasure.

SFF Translation Awards Prize Draw Fundraiser

The clue is in the title. Yes, the jury for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards are currently considering the various nominees, but in order to give prizes to the winners they need money. So, a fundraiser is afoot in which you can win prizes. I'm donating a signed copy of my poetry collection, Songs for the Devil and Death, and I note that Steve Berman of Lethe Press has donated a