Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart
A high school class I was covering for a few days was reading this. I took a look at it after playing them a chapter of the audiobook. The voice…
Physical Fitness
I recognize that this may seem a bit off topic, but bear with me. It’s been my experience that most creative people (writers, musicians, visual artist, etc.) rarely have a…
Writing, Word Counts, NaNoWriMo and Productivity
First off, I’m not doing NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. I have no problems with it, but it’s not for me, or in line with what I’m trying to…
Music for Writing
I usually listen to some kind of background music while I’m writing. Since I play music myself I have to be somewhat particular about what I listen to or I’ll…
John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist
I’m generally extremely shy about craft-based books on writing. I have yet to read Stephen King’s On Writing, and ever Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer was picked up rather…
Part 3: Writing and Lit Podcasts, or the Terrifying Specter of People Talking About the “Writing Life”
(I love podcasts. I listen around 2 or 3 hours a day between my commute, time at the gym, and household chores. This is part 3 of 4.) These are all…
On the hazards of voice recognition software, or, “I will not sink with a robot girl”
As I have written about on here before, I carry a small, volant notebook with me at all times. After realizing how many words I'd crammed in there, I decided…
Reading, Working, Reading
I worked private security for a little over a year as an undergrad. It was one of the worst jobs I’ve ever done. I took it out of absolute financial…
Take Notes
I have tried for years to carry a notebook; to have something to write in when I get ideas in waiting rooms, eating lunch, or talking with friends. I have…
Reading Like a Writer
I bought this book a few years ago for a creative writing class at CSUB; most of the non-fiction on my shelves seems to be there for similar reasons.…