Christopher Stocking's Blog, page 28

Reblog: Sexual Awakening? Nope….Writing Awakening!!

Sexual Awakening? Nope….Writing Awakening!!.

This blog post over at Poeta Officium got me thinking. Well, I suppose reminiscing is a better word. It reminded me of when I started my blog just a few months ago. It reminded me of all the wonderful things I discovered and learned as a flourishing writer, (Which of course I still am, but who isn't?).

So, within this post I have a message for Virginia over at Poeta Officium: Virginia, I'm so glad that you've discovered yourself as a writer! There's ...

Pa and Me

I had to write another monologue for my Creative Writing class. And, just like my previous Monologue, (which can be found ),  it has no personal meaning to me, nor does it have any relevance to my life. Enjoy!

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I felt terrible digging my spurs so deeply into the horse. I mean, just because I was in a hurry didn't mean the horse had to suffer. I suppose I should probably feel worse for that deputy, though. Having his brains splattered all over the floor of the...

Does This Count as Writing?

I came upon this article about how James Patterson has 13 books coming out this year, and why they sell so well, and it raised one major question: Is this really writing?

Patterson explains in the interview that when he writes his books, he writes a detailed outline, and then sends it off to friends of his who writes the actual details. Patterson then looks these over, and either leaves notes or re-writes them entirely.

Now, I suppose that he does technically come up with the ideas, and he...

What’s up with Formatting, Anyway?

Usually I'm not a fan of lolcat pictures. However, this one seemed to fit nicely with my topic.

Let me start by saying happy April Fool’s Day! I’m not good at pranks, so I won’t give a lame attempt at one right now, haha.

What I would like to discuss is formatting your manuscript. Formatting is obviously a big deal when it comes to writing books. It gives the book a clean, professional look; and it helps the reader to know that either the writer has a good team, or they know what they are doing...

What's up with Formatting, Anyway?

Usually I'm not a fan of lolcat pictures. However, this one seemed to fit nicely with my topic.

Let me start by saying happy April Fool's Day! I'm not good at pranks, so I won't give a lame attempt at one right now, haha.

What I would like to discuss is formatting your manuscript. Formatting is obviously a big deal when it comes to writing books. It gives the book a clean, professional look; and it helps the reader to know that either the writer has a good team, or they know what they are...

Interview with Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief – YouTube

This is an old, but good video by the author of one of my favorite books, The Book Thief. It's a short video, but he talks about his inspiration for the book, and provides a little bit of insight for writers.

I'm not Arrogant, I Swear!

Sometimes in some of my classes, a personal question is asked of us where my writing life is relevant. For example, in my Creative Writing class today we were talking about motivation. My teacher was explaining to us how a character's motivation is what makes a book exciting, and what makes the reader want to read a book. He then proceeded to go around the room and ask us where we see ourselves in one year.

When it came to be my turn to speak, I said I wanted to be on a small book tour for my ...

My First Author Talk!

Photo by: Jim Danvers

Today was a fantastic and exciting day for me! Today was my very first public event as a writer/author.

The turnout was mostly family, but I'm glad to have their support. They asked some wonderful questions and the entire event went much more smoothly than I thought it would have. I sold and signed a few books, and I'm glad that some people got a chance to look further into me as a writer. I'm currently working on setting up some other events at some other local libraries ...

Am I Qualified to do This?

Upon entering classes at the beginning of this semester, many of my classes had us introduce ourselves, and tell everyone one or two interesting facts. So, I figured being a self-published author is a pretty interesting fact about me, so that's what I told everyone.

About two or three classes later, two people approached me and asked me if I would help them out by reading/editing some of their writing. Being the nice guy that I (most of the time) am, I agreed and off to work I went. However...

Hello, My Name Is

I had to write a monologue for my Creative Writing class that, when read aloud, is three to five minutes in length. It has no personal relationship to me, nor is it about me at all, actually. It was just a random idea that came to mind after my teacher read one of his that had been published about a criminal in the electric chair. Enjoy!

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The doctor told me I'd be fine. As long as I took the pills, I'd never hurt anyone; at least, not again. But even as I sit in this chair, surrounded b...