Month: October 2017

At the most recent meeting of my Transplants Writer’s Group, we discussed world building.  The group consists of two literary fiction authors, a non-fiction author and me representing speculative fiction.  One of the comments that came out was, “It’s hard enough writing in a world I already know. I don’t know how you SF guys do it.”  This surprised me because I LOVE the world building part of writing.  Most of the discovery and research I do before I start a project is all about world building.  The other surprising assumption was that world building wasn’t as important for non-SF writing.  This is not true at all.  Every writer does world building.   Continue reading “World Building”

Every couple of weeks, Mrs. Blackwelder and I take the Young Blackwelders to the library.  YB One is a competitive reader and generally tries to make sure there is no middle grade fiction left on the shelves for anyone else.  She shoves armloads of books into cloth shopping bags to see if she can make them bust open at the seams.  Seriously.  I’ve seen her sweep a seven-book series off the shelf directly into her bag.  While she preps for binge reading, I generally pick through the 808.xx to see if there are any writing books that catch my eye. Continue reading “It’s a Long Way …”

“Oh, man.  Is it really Friday again? Do I have to write another post?”

Yes, Mike.

“I’d rather just watch something on Netflix.  Star Trek THG or DS9 would be good.”

You should be writing.

“Seriously?” <whining> “I’ll show you. I’ll just sit here and stare at the screen.”

Just don’t open YouTube or fall in a Twitter hole. Continue reading “Butt in the Chair, Hands on Keyboard”

I love the idea of a do-it-yourself Masters in Fine Arts.  I was first introduced to the DIY MFA at the very first writer’s group I attended. Thank you Helen!  At the time, I didn’t realize that the founder of the concept, Gabriela Pereira, had already written a book and created an industry around the idea.  In addition to the book, there’s a wealth of information for writers on her webpage, blog and podcasts.  I’ll admit that I haven’t read the book but I may as I dig deeper into the concepts.

Why a DIY MFA?

My exploration of writing as the next step in my professional life meshes perfectly with the ideas around the DIY MFA.  Continue reading “DIY MFA”