Darius Jones's Blog: A Writer Begins, page 10

Writing Update for October

Is it October already? The month’s more than half over too? Where did it go? Why wasn’t I informed???

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Phew! Anyway, lots going on in my writing life and in real life. I will do my best to summarize all this excitement below.

The Writing
If you follow my Twitter feed, you’ll know I’ve mused recently about “stepping back” a bit from the writing.

Sometimes, taking a few small steps back from your Work in Progress can let your subconscious figure some things out…Then, you can return to it with...

Writing and Living

Hey, everybody. It’s been a busy, busy couple of weeks. There’s been a road trip to New England. There’s been work and life drama (more on that later, maybe). There’s another trip this weekend, this time to the beach. In the midst of all this, my writing has dropped off a bit, but that’s O.K. I’m going to get back to it very soon.

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Just wanted to let you know I’m still here and still writing. I’ll come back next time with another Writing Update. And then, after that, a recounting of my first...

Writing Update for September: A Story Acceptance

The short writing update for this month starts with some exciting news!

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Story Acceptance
The big news this month: My story Breakpoint will appear in Kyanite Press‘ November issue. I’ve tried for awhile to get this story picked up and I’m glad it’s finally seeing the light of day.

It’s a science fiction story set in a future world that has recovered from a devastating conflict, but at a horrible price. It also has a thread about reclaimed memories–but that’s enough for now! For the rest…You’l...

The Craft: The Benefits of Critiquing Others’ Work

Recently, I was able to critique my old friend, Daniel’s, book while it was in its second draft. So, pretty early on. It was more like being a Beta Reader than doing a critique. He just wanted overall impressions and thoughts, not any line-by-line edits or thoughts. So, I was light on the line edits and heavier on the thoughts about plot, characters, setting, etc. And I think he found it useful.

It was a great experience, just to catch up with his creativity. But it was also great for my writ...

Writing Update for August

Ok, everyone. The clouds are starting to part a bit, things are getting back to normal. Feeling good…Turns out August has been BUSY, really busy. I hear that other people are out there, taking vacation…Right now. But sadly not true for yours truly. As they say, “No rest for the wicked.” So, my vacation will have to wait for until mid-September…So…

Let’s take a peak at the writing I managed this month.

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The Writing
Alright, warming up, getting limber and getting back at it.

A little slower thi...

Here’s To You, the Writer

Boy, I was going to write about something totally different today, until I sat down to write this…Oh well, that’s the way it goes and that’s what I feel. So, here it is…Hope you’re ready for this one!

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It’s tough being a writer. Sometimes, it’s really tough. You face days, week, months (a lifetime?) of creating in silence only to reveal your work in the hope that someone–anyone–out there likes it. That it connects. But during the process you have no idea whether you are will connect or not. I...

Writing Update for July

Guys, I’m going to mix it up just a bit…And reserve the last of the month for a post on where my writing is at. I haven’t done this in awhile, so bear with me as I dust off the cobwebs here and break it all down for you.

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The Writing
I have struggled with how to quantify what I accomplish here. The simple answer is: “You can’t.” No matter how much you add up the word counts, it doesn’t really tell you anything about the quality of the work. But here’s the second turn: that isn’t really your b...

Writing and All That

Wow! What a busy, crazy, good week!

[image error]I won’t get into a detailed breakdown here. I think I will save that for next time, but just know I’ve been writing, editing, submitting stories and working and living my butt off.

I think one of the most important things in life is to always be growing, be learning. And I feel I lost that thread for a while, but now I’m getting it back…In spades.

So, a few things I’ve recently learned:

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re FORCED to submit...

Helping an Old Friend Move

[image error]Way, way, way back in the day, I was a free-lance ad writer/fiction writer living in Southern California. And any day of the week, I could go down to Acres of Books, a Long Beach institution, and browse the shelves. I particularly remember the huge, cavernous back room of that used bookstore that would (or probably should have!) been closed by the Fire Dept. It was also rumored that Ray Bradbury would occasionally stop in to browse too, but I never saw him there. Apparently, they kept about 1...

How to Write Better Historical Fiction—In Four Easy Steps

Right now, I’m writing a piece which blends historical fiction and fantasy fiction in a historical setting. I’m hoping you might find some of the advice below useful, whether you’re hoping to write literary-fiction or genre-fiction in a historical setting.

Today, I’ll give you four easy steps I used to make my historical settings richer, deeper and more true-to-life. It’s those little details that you use in world-building which can make a big difference and can really wrap your readers up...