Blog (page 9)

Writing With Bubbles

I use a simple method when writing that helps me quickly organize everything I am going to put in a piece without requiring a lot of time and effort.

Organization is critical to good writing because it keeps things in order and allows the logical separation of ideas, but when students get taught organization for writing (if they are even taught organization!) it often takes the form of rote formula.

I use a method I call the bubble method. It’s not sophisticated, but it’s scalable and helpful for very simple organization.

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Ellison’s Fall (Part 1)

I had Ellison on a cold-storage chip in my pocket. He’d fallen back at the ravine.

Could’ve happened to anyone, honestly. Maura’s a planet you don’t mess with. The anomalies still boil across the world’s surface.

One minute you’re rappelling down a cliff-face, and the next you’re leaving an impact crater because the rock you’d anchored to decided that it might not exist anymore.

Object permanence is a horrible thing to take for granted.

The comms still worked, and I’d called it in when it happened. With a skeleton crew, I didn’t get a response for two hours.

“We’ve got a copy of him on file, but take the chip with you.”

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Writing Advice and You

While working on my MFA, I read something like a half-dozen different full-length books on writing from the perspective of highly successful authors (King, Lamott, Mailer, and McPhee stand out), and the program included more snippets, lectures, interviews, and round-tables on writing.

One challenge that I had to overcome immediately was figuring out how to sort and filter information.

People have a limited ability for information intake and storage, and a limited ability to convert stored information into practice.

So, what’s the best way to look at writing advice?

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The Laughing Maiden

When I sought the Grail:

We had stopped in a peasant village close to the border of our kingdom. Dismounting after a long day’s ride, I walked around the town. Our lord’s banner hung from the town hall. But it did not matter–those who are seeking treasure must know their surroundings.

In truth, I feared that our adversary arrived before us. That devil, the snake whose name I will not speak, who had met us on the river as we set out on our quest and delivered us to brigands.

But there was no danger. Having assured myself that the stables were empty, save for the horses that worked the fields, and the houses contained no enemies, I returned to my companions.

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One Word at a Time

This is perhaps the least original title for advice to writers, but it’s the fundamental piece of advice that has helped me write.

And I take it differently than most.

How each writer will achieve success is ultimately a deeply individual process. Different inspirations can drive writing, and personality plays a role in determining workflow and process.

But there is one trait that I’ve observed repeatedly as I watch writers and as I read writers’ work on writing.

They read one word at a time.

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