Takes magic of all kinds to get to the end. Over here in my corner of the world, I've just dropped a house on half of my novel, and now I'm going to go outside and see where I am. The problem is that I'm not as innocent as Dorothy (meaning I dropped the house …
Continue reading The Rewrite Chronicles: These Things Must Be Done Delicately
The dreaded girl gang of three are capable of taking out a writer anywhere at any time. The malevolent Angstintina, Obsessisa, and Neurotichka can smell coffee from a thousand paces. They spot their prey as it sits illuminated in the light of a computer screen. If necessary, they can also hear the rustle of paper …
Thanks to angst encouraging nonsense like sitemeters and stat counters, I can see that some people have read the chapters that I so anxiously-optimistically-ridiculously posted. First thought is something like, Oh wow. Someone's reading it. Second thought is like, Oh shit. Someone's reading it. Third thought is more like, Oh great someone's reading it and …
Continue reading Where the blog goes on forever, and the neurosis never ends…
Lots of mixed feelings here. How much of your life do you share? I read an article about the blogging life in The New York Times Magazine and I'm sure it is zipping its way around the internet and doesn't need me, but in case you missed it--click.
I had been 21 for a month when my aunts, who I barely knew, had to take me to the hospital to get my mother's things. When someone collapses at work and dies, this is what happens--they get taken to the hospital in an ambulance, and personal belongings are taken away from them and put …
Continue reading A whole life fits in a ziploc bag shoved in a desk drawer.
Perhaps frustration is starting to set in. Okay. There are these things called letters. There is this stuff called paper. Somewhere back in time somebody decided to put these two things together. Well, maybe scratches and stone came first and...we generally know how that turned out. Anyway. Here we are, beyond burnt sticks and cave …
Continue reading The Still Can’t Rewrite Chronicles: Cavemen Are to Blame
Rewriting is too damn hard. Fuck.
The word. The sound of the word. The connotation and implication. The character. Amazing all the is contained in a word. So, when writing dialogue you must consider her vocabulary and style. You must think about what he should reveal and has said before. Don't be repetitive unless repetition brings a point home. Don't, however, …
Here we go again, people! Go write! Are you sick of me yet? Wouldn't blame you because I get sick of myself plenty, but all the same, here I am, and there you are, and what's left of your novel? There's no way I'm going to make to Halloween without repeating myself, but that's okay …
Three is a magic number. All good things come in threes--and bad things too. There are three wise men in the bible and three witches in Macbeth. Genie's give us three wishes and the Christianity gives us unity in three. There is birth, living, and death. Heaven, earth, and hell. Youth, adulthood, and old age. …
Continue reading Three strikes you’re out, but third time’s a charm.
Marta Bacon 