Note: This post serves as a counterpoint to Sean’s Monday post, The Myth of the Tortured Writer. “There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.” – Maya Angelou “I am a great artist and I know it. The reason I am great is because of all the suffering I have done.” [...] Read more »
The Myth of the Tortured Writer
I don’t know how far back the myth of the tortured writer would have to travel to find its father, but I do wonder about its birthright and question how much harm it has done in relation to the good. I know it’s a myth that kept me from spilling ink at least two decades too [...] Read more »
Serial and Milk: Available Darkness – Chapter Ten
(Serial and Milk: Available Darkness is a serialized thriller co-written by David Wright and Sean Platt. A new chapter appears here each Friday. If you missed previous chapters, you can read them here.) Abigail tried to cloak her fear, but quivering limbs gave lie to the guise as she stepped from the safety of the [...] Read more »
Unshackling from the Opiate of the Masses
No, the title isn’t in reference to the criticism of religion but rather that glowing opiate of the masses, television. I was once a TV junkie. A junkie with good taste, not one of those monosyllabic couch potatoes that considers Jerry Springer ‘Must See TV’. But I was an addict, nonetheless. I had favorite shows [...] Read more »
Writing With Purpose
Writing With Purpose Knowing your purpose before you ever put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) will ensure that whatever words fall in front of your reader’s eyes are all part of an overall structure that is carefully crafted to illicit an appropriate reader response. Words combine to synthesize thought into new understanding, relaying [...] Read more »
Writing with a partner – writing better in less time
One of the biggest roadblocks to my previous attempts at writing a book has always been the editing process. I would get so tangled up with individual pages and chapters, that I would drown in what if’s and give up in frustration. Working under constant deadlines at a newspaper taught me something about writing fast [...] Read more »
The Zen of New Ideas
Iwrite full time. Ghostwriting, blog posts, comments, emails, tweets. You name it and my fingers might have made it happen. When I first started to write, I had no aspirations for a writing career. Weaving words was merely salve to sooth an aching heart, dulled by my daughter leaving the nest for Kindergarten. I spent [...] Read more »
What Eminem Taught Me About Writing For Children
Rewind a decade. I was a full two years from my first zygote and yet to say “I do.” Cindy and I were living together in a small cottage a few blocks from the beach and the loony looping bombarding beat for Marshall Mather’s “My Name Is” was everywhere. I’d heard enough clips and sound [...] Read more »
An Exclamation Point is Like a Promise
“Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.” ~ Author unknown Any regular reader of Writer Dad knows I rarely use the exclamation point. I don’t really have a rule in regard to its usage, but if I did, it would be something like this: Deciding to use an [...] Read more »
10 Ways to Find Your Writing Style
How to Find Your Writing Style Finding your writing style is like having a skill that can season your words from weak to wonderful. Each of us has access to the same alphabet, 26 letters and not a vowel or consonant more. It’s what we do with our selection of sounds that lends the greatest [...] Read more »
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