I had quite a few bad dreams last night that left me fitful and restless. One nightmare in particular bothered me to the extent of waking up and pondering what I had just witnessed. After a few more bad dreams that I don’t remember now, I broke into prayer, asking God to remove the demon […]
It’s a brisk morning as the sun is rising on the eastern horizon. The orange glow of its orb is just breaking the plane of the house across the field. Birds are chirping a song that seems to say that spring is near. The trees are in agreement as buds have formed over the last […]
To be a writer, you have to write. That’s all there is to it. You can’t spend all of your time watching TV, playing video games, or hanging out with friends. You have to write. And if you’re serious about it, you will write every time you have a chance to do it. There are […]
A true writer can’t help but write. It’s a part of who we are. As a writer, if you don’t write, you cease to exist (or at least you feel that way). Publishing is secondary to the true artist, because an artist will continue to create art, no matter if the public likes it or […]
Characters should be real. Real people have faults and hurts and joy and goals and a host of other things. People are multi-dimensional. Characters in a story should be well rounded, and readers should be able to relate to them. Why is Spiderman more popular than Superman today? Because we can relate to Spiderman. We […]
What does ambience mean when it comes to writing? Ambience refers to the atmosphere of a setting. It has to do with the environment and the vibe it gives off. Every story must have a credible setting that puts readers into that scene. If you’re at the ocean, then let the readers hear the water […]
If you want to be a great writer, you have to have some type of writing routine. It may not seem like a lot to write, let’s say, two hours a day. Do that for five days a week and you have 10 hours at the end of the week. At the end of the […]
Be confident in the stories you write. If what you are writing is something that you must write, something that is deep in your soul, then be confident that you are the one to write it and that no one can write it as well as you can. This is why it’s important to be […]
The creative process is like a train chugging along its tracks. If you sit and listen, you can hear the distant train whistle as it heads into the edge of town. You are welcome to jump on the train, if you dare, and take it for a ride. Sometimes the rides are free; sometimes they […]
On our first full day in Maine, we made our way to the Marginal Way in Ogunquit, which seemed to be the destination of everyone else in southern Maine. The traffic crawled, the parking lots were full, and it was too late in the day to pay for the trolley. We turned around and spent […]