Darius Jones's Blog: A Writer Begins, page 20

Works in Progress–A Momentary Lapse of Confidence

[Part of a continuing series on where my fiction writing is at.]

Sorry, I didnt post yesterday, but my day job intervened and the news of the passing of Leonard Nimoy (a little more on that below) helped demotivate me further. After a nice night out with some friends (and a few drinks), Im feeling much better. So, here we go.

How They Did It at Kazansky StationThis first draft of this story is done, but reading it over in hard copy, I didnt like it much. It was very, very rough. So, I sighe...

Works in Progress–Russian Short Story Title Reveal

[Part of a continuing series on where my fiction writing is at.]

A very brief post as I am taking some vacation this weekend and a corresponding short hiatus from writing fiction. But, don���t worry, I���ll be back.

HTDIKS���I wrote this story in keeping with Tuchman���s advice to write what you love. There is hardly a thing I love more in this world, a place that is of more interest to me, than the great city of Moscow and its people. So, in keeping with that, I wrote this piece.

As I said l...

Works in Progress—A New First Draft

[Part of a continuing series on where my fiction is at.]

A quick overview of my works in progress and a little about what I���m reading these days.

HTDIKS���Bam! The big news for this post is that I knocked off a first draft of this story. It���s set in Moscow in the 90s, in the real world with no fantastical or magical elements. Strange, I know. I will send this off to my Beta readers ASAP and do the title reveal soon here on the blog.

The Man with Storms in His Eyes���I���ve collected some B...

Works in Progress—Horror Short Title Reveal

Following the new regime on the old blog here of posting every two weeks (see ���Write More, Blog Less), I���m back. The good news is that I���ve been really productive in the last couple of weeks and my fiction writing has moved forward on all fronts. This is exactly what I was hoping for in cutting back a bit on the blog.

So, here���s a quick scan of where I���m at with various writing projects.

TMWSE���This straight-up horror short is off to my Beta readers. What does that mean? First, it�...

Writing Resolutions for 2015

I���m not a big fan of resolutions, though you wouldn���t know it from this blog. Last year I wrote a post on my writing resolutions. I met some and didn���t meet others, you can be the judge.

Anyway, this year I want to keep things simple. And I want to make sure they���re achievable no matter what others do���in other words, do these resolutions pass the Epictetus (as I���ve discussed, Epictetus is the Man) test? Are they achievable no matter what others, or the world, throws at me? Are the...

A Look Back at my Year in Writing–2014

Wrapping things up here on 2014. So, I wanted to look back at my year in writing and talk a little about what I accomplished and maybe a bit about what I didn���t. Next week, we���ll look forward to 2015. But this post is about the year that was. Here are the highlights one-by-one.

1. I saw my name in print for the first time.
If I had to single out one highlight of my writing year, it would be seeing my novelette, The Ghul of Yazd published in Strangelet Journal. It was so great to see this...

Works in Progress—A Bite on the Line

An update on my works in progress.

AFTA���An editor wrote back in response to a query letter I sent, saying he would like to see the full manuscript of this comedy-horror novella. That���s the first time I���ve had a positive response to a query letter. Ever. That���s good because there is a lot of advice out there on how to write a good query letter and I���m not sure I had exactly rang the bell with this one. The fact that at least one editor���s interest was piqued is a good sign.

Now all I...

The Craft: The Ends of Analysis

[This is part of a continuing series on the art of writing fiction.]

I���ve talked a lot on this blog about the craft of writing fiction. About my five top rules for writing from ���Get Black on White��� and ���NO CRITIC��� to ���Stick to What Works.��� I���ve talked about ���Grip,��� about making your characters endure often painful conflict and metamorphosis and about writing what you love. But there���s a limit to what you can figure out about writing. What you can, alas, put into words. So...

The Craft :The Ends of Analysis

[This is part of a continuing series on the art of writing fiction.]

I���ve talked a lot on this blog about the craft of writing fiction. About my five top rules for writing from ���Get Black on White��� and ���NO CRITIC��� to ���Stick to What Works.��� I���ve talked about ���Grip,��� about making your characters endure often painful conflict and metamorphosis and about writing what you love. But there���s a limit to what you can figure out about writing. What you can, alas, put into words. So...

Works in Progress—Getting It Done

An update on my works in progress.

TMWSE—Well, finally knocked this one off. It was about 5,000 words two weeks ago. Now, it’s 7,500 words and the first draft is done. This makes it a perfect length for submittal to magazine markets. But I think it could be trimmed down a bit. You know, hit the gym and shed some pounds so that it’s fighting fit. So, this weekend, I’m going to edit this one and get it on its way to a finished 2nd draft.

I’m especially happy with the richness of the protagonist i...