Reinventing My Life Through Photography and Music

I am writing my tenth “work in progress.” In it, my main character is realizing why he exists. Hmm. I guess I am in the same boat as him. After a fulfilling life with my wife Judy for 36 years, she passed away in 2019. I was faced with the choice to move ahead withContinue reading “Reinventing My Life Through Photography and Music”

Susie’s Unexpected Question and the Evolution of Character Development

The evolution of Chapter 7 of my tenth Work in Progress continues. Here is how it started. 7Jake and Susie I pushed the slightly ajar door to Susie’s bedroom open, just in time to see her hurriedly lay her head on the pillow; her eyes clamped tightly in pretend sleep, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.Continue reading “Susie’s Unexpected Question and the Evolution of Character Development”

Susie Pretends to Be Asleep: A Charming Bedtime Game

Sometimes I have trouble writing, particularly if the scene involves something I haven’t experienced in real life. In this scene, my character Jake says goodnight to his young daughter, Susie. Even though it’s short, it took me a solid two hours of work. It isn’t easy to write what you know if it is somethingContinue reading “Susie Pretends to Be Asleep: A Charming Bedtime Game”

Mastering Conciseness: Tips for Better Writing

Sometimes you have to “unwrite” to improve a sentence. I read an interview of a famous writer whose name escapes me. It was long ago. He was asked how he knew the correct words to include in a piece of writing. He responded that it was more important to know the correct words to remove.Continue reading “Mastering Conciseness: Tips for Better Writing”

Editing Insights: Keeping Readers Guessing

I am editing “The Scene,” my ninth Work In Progress. It didn’t come out quite the way I envisioned. Still, that is what makes Discovery Writing such a challenge —and so much fun. This part is also fun. I make sure I didn’t reveal too much. This way, no reader should be able to guessContinue reading “Editing Insights: Keeping Readers Guessing”

My Christmas mood- now and then

December 20, 2020 The soundtrack of my Christmas memories as a child was provided to a major extent, by one Christmas record. This record was by a group you might have heard of; 101 Strings, and was called “Christmas Moods.”  At the time, it had come to be included in my family Christmas memories asContinue reading “My Christmas mood- now and then”

Camp Fire- Paradise Ca, The Second Anniversary

November 01, 2020 November 8, will be the second anniversary of the Camp Fire, which burned the majority of the town of Paradise off of the map. Judy and I were there that morning. We shouldn’t have been. We didn’t know what was happening. I relied on warnings from my phone to alert me thatContinue reading “Camp Fire- Paradise Ca, The Second Anniversary”

Good writing can make you cry- now

Wednesday, August 26, 2020 It can make me cry, anyway. Of the relatively small list of people I have as good friends, five that I know of, write. One of those has published five novels. Another one is close to publishing her first book. Another could and should write a book about her life butContinue reading “Good writing can make you cry- now”

My Gridcoin experiment is done

Tuesday, August 4, 2020 Frankly, the intermediary website GRCPool.com and Gridcoin.us left a lot to be desired. The site is not monitored as well as it could be. Projects that are listed as acceptable for research may not be. Updated information is not consistent from one listing to the next. I found one project IContinue reading “My Gridcoin experiment is done”