The past month has been a whirlwind for me! I finished the first rough draft of my 4th novel (or well, mostly finished at least). I made a full revision of my 3rd novel and sent it back out to Beta readers. I started working again full time for a short amount of time (6 to 8 weeks) as a long term substitute in a K-5 school. We've have had multiple major snowstorms. My Granny had a major back surgery and is now in a rehab center for recovery. My brother's baby is due in a couple weeks so we've just finished Christmas with them (for E&L since Christmas didn't really work out for a party time- the S-I-L's mother passed after a long battle with cancer on Christmas Eve) and then immediately jumped into baby shower planning.
Is everyone else always so busy in January?! I can't say that I remember ever having such a busy January myself.
Something else I've been working on: My friend and editor Steven is a fantastic writer and I've looked to him as a mentor for something around a decade now. As it happens, Steven has gotten out of the habit of writing. Yeah, I know- he's an editor and a blogger. He should be writing every day. And he does, sort of. He has a dozen or so blogs that keep him pretty busy between transcriptions, copy writing, fact checking, and editing. But, none of those activities is about him creating work- for a while now, he has only been able to manage handling the work of others, maybe with commentary and background, but he hasn't written his own stuff. Writer's block? Maybe.
Earlier in January, I came across Writer's Digest's weekly writing prompts. I sent him one. He told me that he would absolutely not be writing to those prompts. An hour later, I got his first draft. It was that simple. I have told him 100 times that he needs to write. Nooooo. Send him a prompt and he's freaking Kerouac all of a sudden! We (meaning mostly Steven) came up with the idea to catalog all of his first drafts to my prompts, various snippets of our unfinished works, sneak peaks at works-in-progress, old stuff and new stuff, and more in a blog. I thought I'd share it with you. Check out Creative Differences to see the writing prompts I've sent, his responses, some of his past work, some of my past work, and various writerly things. Yes, "writerly" is a word because I said it is. :) My "Firefly fanfic that was" short story (detailed in this post) was posted a couple days ago under the title RED DOTS if you'd like to check that out!
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Showing posts with label Steven Thompson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steven Thompson. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Friday, April 06, 2012
Friday Five: 5 Questions with Steven part 2
...about blogging.
It is Friday, Friday, Friday. Gotta get dow-... Okay, I'll stop, that was pretty lame, I know. But, Friday is a wonderful day, rain or shine. Today's Friday Five continues my 5 Questions series with the second installment of questions with editor and blogger Steven Thompson. Steven runs 12 very popular comic/pop culture blogs and writes a regular column on a 13th. He has been recognized around the world due to his blogs. Check out Booksteve's Library here and find the links to his multiple blogs!
Q: When did you start blogging?
A: I had enjoyed reading blogs for a few years. Kate Worley, a comics writer who had befriended my wife an I back in 1990, died in 2004. I was searching for information on her passing and found a blog by Reed Waller, her ex-partner both in life and in comics. Although they had long since broken up, Waller wrote eloquently of his friend and I thought, "I wish I had a forum like this." Then I realized how easy it was to get just such a thing.
Q: Why do you blog?
A: All I've ever really wanted to be was a writer. My wife has always said that, with all my arcane knowledge of trivia and minutiae, I should be a teacher. I decided that blogging was the best way I could write and at the same time teach people about some of the weird things I've enjoyed over the years.
Q: Why do you have so many different blogs instead of putting it all together in a single location?
A: Well, my first try at a blog didn't take. It was aimless and abandoned after only 3-4 posts. Eventually I deleted it entirely and figured I was through with blogging.Then I came up with the idea for a new blog centered on sharing books, movies, etc from my own personal library. It slowly became quite successful and was my only blog for the first three years. Then I found myself a victim of the economy, depressed and with time on my hands. So I started a second blog specifically aimed at a different audience. In time, some ideas hit me that just wouldn't fit in on my regular, all-purpose blog--my high school journal for example--so I gave them each their own blogs! I currently have 12 (and write a more-or-less daily column for another) but there have also been four more that I created, abandoned and eventually deleted along the way.
Also, it doesn't hurt that more blogs, appealing to somewhat different readers, tends to elicit more ad-clicks and thus more money for me.
Q: Do you have a few favorite blogs of your own or others you'd like to share?
It is Friday, Friday, Friday. Gotta get dow-... Okay, I'll stop, that was pretty lame, I know. But, Friday is a wonderful day, rain or shine. Today's Friday Five continues my 5 Questions series with the second installment of questions with editor and blogger Steven Thompson. Steven runs 12 very popular comic/pop culture blogs and writes a regular column on a 13th. He has been recognized around the world due to his blogs. Check out Booksteve's Library here and find the links to his multiple blogs!
Q: When did you start blogging?
A: I had enjoyed reading blogs for a few years. Kate Worley, a comics writer who had befriended my wife an I back in 1990, died in 2004. I was searching for information on her passing and found a blog by Reed Waller, her ex-partner both in life and in comics. Although they had long since broken up, Waller wrote eloquently of his friend and I thought, "I wish I had a forum like this." Then I realized how easy it was to get just such a thing.
Q: Why do you blog?
A: All I've ever really wanted to be was a writer. My wife has always said that, with all my arcane knowledge of trivia and minutiae, I should be a teacher. I decided that blogging was the best way I could write and at the same time teach people about some of the weird things I've enjoyed over the years.
Q: Why do you have so many different blogs instead of putting it all together in a single location?
A: Well, my first try at a blog didn't take. It was aimless and abandoned after only 3-4 posts. Eventually I deleted it entirely and figured I was through with blogging.Then I came up with the idea for a new blog centered on sharing books, movies, etc from my own personal library. It slowly became quite successful and was my only blog for the first three years. Then I found myself a victim of the economy, depressed and with time on my hands. So I started a second blog specifically aimed at a different audience. In time, some ideas hit me that just wouldn't fit in on my regular, all-purpose blog--my high school journal for example--so I gave them each their own blogs! I currently have 12 (and write a more-or-less daily column for another) but there have also been four more that I created, abandoned and eventually deleted along the way.
Also, it doesn't hurt that more blogs, appealing to somewhat different readers, tends to elicit more ad-clicks and thus more money for me.
Q: Do you have a few favorite blogs of your own or others you'd like to share?
A: Oh, I have scores of them. Other than yours [You are so freaking sweet!] , a few of my favorites:
http://martingrams.blogspot.com/
http://www.bionicdisco.com/
http://www.newsfromme.com/
http://my-retrospace.blogspot.com/
Q: What advice do you have for a newbie blogger or someone that is thinking about starting a blog?
A: It's the simplest thing in the world nowadays, even more so than when I started blogging six years back. Everyone has a voice and blogging is a unique and simple way to get yours heard. Blog about politics, family, life, death, books, movies, dental work, Lindsay Lohan, Justin Bieber [please no], the history of the telephone, how to bake lasagna. There is quiet literally no limit to the subjects you can choose. Maybe only two people will read your posts but on the other hand, there could be thousands. But you aren't writing for them anyway. You're writing for yourself. Now, go. BLOG! [Yes sir!]
Have any other questions for Steven about blogging? Post them in the comments section and I will forward them to him. Or, since he is over here pretty often, maybe he'll answer them himself! It is always nice to hear it straight from the source rather than a 3rd party don't you think?
http://martingrams.blogspot.com/
http://www.bionicdisco.com/
http://www.newsfromme.com/
http://my-retrospace.blogspot.com/
Q: What advice do you have for a newbie blogger or someone that is thinking about starting a blog?
A: It's the simplest thing in the world nowadays, even more so than when I started blogging six years back. Everyone has a voice and blogging is a unique and simple way to get yours heard. Blog about politics, family, life, death, books, movies, dental work, Lindsay Lohan, Justin Bieber [please no], the history of the telephone, how to bake lasagna. There is quiet literally no limit to the subjects you can choose. Maybe only two people will read your posts but on the other hand, there could be thousands. But you aren't writing for them anyway. You're writing for yourself. Now, go. BLOG! [Yes sir!]
Have any other questions for Steven about blogging? Post them in the comments section and I will forward them to him. Or, since he is over here pretty often, maybe he'll answer them himself! It is always nice to hear it straight from the source rather than a 3rd party don't you think?
Friday, March 30, 2012
Friday Five: 5 Questions with Steven
...about editing.
The next few weeks of Friday Fives are going to consist of mini-interviews with my friends and extended family of people within my industry. I am hoping for a variety of interview subjects. Since my group of friends/family is somewhat small, expect some people to reappear within the Friday Fives speaking about different subjects. This should be a quick interesting glimpse into the realm of all-things-writing.
My questions are in bold font to make it easier to see. Answers follow the bold A: and my comments follow in red brackets.
My friend and fantastic editor Steven Thompson agreed to be the first Friday Five subject.
Q: How do you approach a project?
A: First, I avoid approaching it at all for as long as possible. [lol] Then. once I make the decision to do so, I jump in wholeheartedly and just get right to work.
Q: What kind of enjoyment do you get out of editing?
A: Honestly, I'm not some great expert on the right way to do things and I know that. But I do tend to recognize the WRONG way when I see it and it makes me feel good being able to steer someone away from that at least.
Q: What advice do you have for your writers that would make your job easier?
A: It's not the writers' job to make my job easier. It's the writers' job to be creative and that's all I ask of them. My job is to take that rampant creativity and clean up after it.
Q: What is the most difficult thing to deal with as an editor?
A: The writer…present company excepted. [D'awww. Thank you!]
Q: In your opinion, do/should all writers make good editors?
A: Well, there's no need for it, I suppose…but I think it's inevitable in most cases. A writer is rarely the best editor for their own work but I think the simple process of writing itself makes one acutely sensitive to mistakes in grammar, spelling, continuity and other issues, in essence making them a good editor whether or not they realize it. [I think that goes along with a writer should always take the opportunity to read anything they can get their hands on, especially works outside of their genre. We learn just as much by observing the mistakes of others as we do by making the mistakes ourselves.]
Have any questions for Steven about editing? Post them in the comments section below and I'll try to badger him into answering them when he gets some free time to do so!
Stay tuned for next week's Friday Five when Steven talks about blogging. And yes, he is qualified to talk about blogging since he runs/writes a baker's dozen.
The next few weeks of Friday Fives are going to consist of mini-interviews with my friends and extended family of people within my industry. I am hoping for a variety of interview subjects. Since my group of friends/family is somewhat small, expect some people to reappear within the Friday Fives speaking about different subjects. This should be a quick interesting glimpse into the realm of all-things-writing.
My questions are in bold font to make it easier to see. Answers follow the bold A: and my comments follow in red brackets.
My friend and fantastic editor Steven Thompson agreed to be the first Friday Five subject.
Q: How do you approach a project?
A: First, I avoid approaching it at all for as long as possible. [lol] Then. once I make the decision to do so, I jump in wholeheartedly and just get right to work.
Q: What kind of enjoyment do you get out of editing?
A: Honestly, I'm not some great expert on the right way to do things and I know that. But I do tend to recognize the WRONG way when I see it and it makes me feel good being able to steer someone away from that at least.
Q: What advice do you have for your writers that would make your job easier?
A: It's not the writers' job to make my job easier. It's the writers' job to be creative and that's all I ask of them. My job is to take that rampant creativity and clean up after it.
Q: What is the most difficult thing to deal with as an editor?
A: The writer…present company excepted. [D'awww. Thank you!]
Q: In your opinion, do/should all writers make good editors?
A: Well, there's no need for it, I suppose…but I think it's inevitable in most cases. A writer is rarely the best editor for their own work but I think the simple process of writing itself makes one acutely sensitive to mistakes in grammar, spelling, continuity and other issues, in essence making them a good editor whether or not they realize it. [I think that goes along with a writer should always take the opportunity to read anything they can get their hands on, especially works outside of their genre. We learn just as much by observing the mistakes of others as we do by making the mistakes ourselves.]
Have any questions for Steven about editing? Post them in the comments section below and I'll try to badger him into answering them when he gets some free time to do so!
Stay tuned for next week's Friday Five when Steven talks about blogging. And yes, he is qualified to talk about blogging since he runs/writes a baker's dozen.
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