I’ve been quite unfair, in this series (of which this installment is the last) in sketching a Jekyll & Hyde scenario of the Writer vs the Not Writer, because we’re all a bit of both. At different times, for different reasons. There’s a sliding scale between one and the other, see. The goal of these […]

Like many authors, Roald Dahl had a special space in which he did his writing (you can take a fascinating tour here: http://ping.fm/hQuw0). Dahl’s cluttered and dilapidated hut bears all the hallmarks of such spaces: privacy, comfort and focus. One problem with a creative mind, to put it diplomatically, is that it is a problem-solving […]

I’m a New Media guy, and as such I’m heavily biased in matters digital. I feel that in the 21st century, in which a common telephone can have enough storage capacity to contain all the text in even the greatest public libraries on Earth, when you can have Internet access every moment of the day, […]

“I have it all worked out in my head.” This is where the divide between Not Writers and Writers is thinnest: Story Ideas. Creativity, at its core, is a misnomer. We don’t actually create anything new, because we’re not capable of inventing anything we don’t already comprehend: we can’t conceive of something we can’t conceive […]

“I have this cool idea for a story, but I won’t have time to write it until after finals.” This is a perfectly legitimate thing to say if finals are next week, but not if they’re in five months. Stress, health problems, uncertainty at work or at home, children — all of these are legitimate […]

[ This is the second part of a series dealing with the Not Writer, an abstract concept describing a creative person who possesses all the drives and qualities that could enable them to be a writer, but who doesn’t produce much or at all. These posts highlight, explore, and propose perspectives and solutions for common […]

I’m a writer, and I’m fairly proud of that. I take the craft seriously (most of the time), I’ve worked to hone my skills, I’ve studied. Much to learn, still, but that only makes it more fun. Many of my friends are writers too, and I know many writers who aren’t friends but still awesome, […]