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November 30, 2016
I’ve been down the last couple of days. Work has been kicking my ass, chores and errands keep piling up, and I haven’t had much time to relax. I’d love to be writing my next book, I even had some time to work on it today—but I don’t do well with half measures. I long for a day when I can wake up leisurely, go through my morning routine without hurry, and then get lost in the worlds I write for hours...
June 13, 2015
In my role as something akin to a critic at RandomC, I’ve run afoul of readers who really don’t like what I said about certain shows. I’ve had people flame me, insult me, rage at me, and worse—all over my opinions on Japanese cartoons. If that sounds silly, remember that this happens all the time, even to casual fans who evince opinions on certain books, movies, or TV shows, and especially if they do it online. People can be inordinately passionate about the stories they identify with. Why?...
June 11, 2015
“I don’t believe in guilty pleasures. If you fucking like something, like it. That’s what’s wrong with our generation: that residual punk rock guilt, like, “You’re not supposed to like that. That’s not fucking cool.” Don’t fucking think it’s not cool to like Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” It is cool to like Britney Spears’ “Toxic”! Why the fuck not? Fuck you! That’s who I am, goddamn it! That whole guilty pleasure thing is full of fucking shit.” – Dave Grohl I...
May 13, 2014
Who gets to decide whether an element of a story belongs? Who gets to decide whether a detail is irrelevant to the tale being told? Is it the author, or can the reader way in as well? This question arrives due to a recent comment over at RandomC. Commenter Bear mentioned that a certain detail was irrelevant to the story in question, while commenter Kazuo Teramoto replied that it’s up to the creator to decide that. So who’s right? Here’s my original reply:...
April 26, 2014
I believe the acts of reading and writing fiction should be based on relationships of mutual respect. First and foremost is an author’s respect of the reader’s time. This is one of Kurt Vonnegut’s eight rules for writing short stories: 1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. An author should respect her readers enough to not waste their time with unnecessary junk. This is hard...
April 11, 2014
It can be hard to keep all the little details straight while writing a story. Trust me on this. What seems obvious to someone seeing it for a first time is invisible to someone who’s been slaving over it for months or years. Can’t see the forest for the trees, or past our own blind spots. But if an author does most things right? I’ll allow it. I’ll let the little things slide when you’re doing most things right. Take...
February 13, 2014
That’s a lie, of course. I read my writing all the time, when I’m editing it. I don’t get to read it like you do, though. I never get to sit down and take it in without expectations. I’m always tweaking, testing, fixing mistakes. That’s not the same. Did you know that I’ve never sat down and read my own book? It’s an odd feeling, to spend so much time on a thing but not see it in the way...
August 13, 2013
My free time is a constant battle between reading more, and reading less. There is so much content out there that I’m interested in. Authors, bloggers, reporters, TV shows, movies, YouTube videos, musicians, etc. It’s an ongoing joke among my friends that I always have too many browser windows open, and that’s because there’s always so much I want to absorb. My RSS is full of content that I’ll never get to. I have to wipe it periodically to avoid...
June 20, 2013
Fiction, when it’s done well, will not only entertain, but resonate. It picks out something about the world and says it in a way that you never thought of before. It’s the same thing a good comedian does, only perhaps not quite so often. Let me share one such moment. “I see. Jared, allow me to share with you my philosophy of human beings. It can be summed up in four words: I like good people. You seem like good...