Today, I am emeshed in writing a book review. It’s ye auld writing struggle against a blank page. And my weapon of choice is food. So far, I’ve already consumed ice cream and popcorn. This is bad. Any advice?
Entries from October 2008
writing process: The Writer’s Diet
October 20, 2008 · 4 Comments
Categories: Writing Process
Tagged: food, writing
writing community: I won at the Las Vegas Writer’s Group
October 17, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Another writer’s meeting, another audiobook. This month, I won the special politically themed writing contest by guessing that Ralph Nader wrote Unsafe at Any Speed. Granted winning an audio book isn’t that much of a prize, but it’s more than I’ve won at Blackjack.
Here’s a photo of me and the other winners! Three Cheers for All of Us!
Categories: This Writer's Life · writing community
Tagged: audiobook, las vegas writers group
my latest publication: Photojournalistic Account of First Friday in Vegas
October 8, 2008 · Leave a Comment
No words this time, folks. Just my purty, purty pictures. (See above for example of my visual genius.)
See a slide show of my photography from Las Vegas’ First Friday Art Walk.
Categories: Art · My Latest Publication
Tagged: Art, art walk, first friday, photography, photojournalism, vegas insight
art: Vegas Skyline
October 8, 2008 · 1 Comment
I’ve been back in Vegas nearly a week now. (There was a little trip to Colorado that I forgot to tell you about.) Anyhoo, what better way to celebrate my return than with a classic image of the Vegas skyline.
South <— North—>
Building Key: The Luxor is on the south side and hidden by a tree. That starburst on the north side of the strip is the Stratosphere.
Technical: I took the photo at dusk with my Canon Rebel XTI. I set the ASA to 100 for most clarity and then made the aperature as small as possible to get the highest depth of field using the aperature prioity setting. Finally, I found a nice solid lump of concrete to act as a tripod and set the thing off. The exposure was 30 seconds, which actually underexposed it. But I like the effect. Voila.
Categories: Art
Tagged: header, Las Vegas, photography, skyline
writing community: Vegas Writer’s Guild, Where Are You?
October 7, 2008 · 5 Comments
According to a three-line ad in a Vegas newspaper, there is a Writer’s Guild in Las Vegas that meets twice a month at Borders. Excited, I showed up at the appointed time and place. Nobody was there. OK, I’m not exactly sure. The bookstore coffee shop was populated, but by writers? Hard to tell.
I lurked around the place pretending to look at bargain books while secretly inspecting the tables. Of the few groups, most had textbooks and graphing calculators. I ruled them out (get it? he he). Only one couple looked like they might be writers. Through subsequent observation, they were found to be discussing mysticism. While this subject did not rule them out, it did not rule them in either. In the end, I went home empty-handed, which says a lot for my self-discipline to be bumbling around a bookstore for an hour without buying anything.
Categories: writing community
Tagged: book store, borders, coffee shop, Las Vegas, writer's guild, writing community
this writer’s life: “Beating” Writer’s Block
October 6, 2008 · 1 Comment
I don’t get writer’s block … well, at least not in the traditional sense. You know, the anguishing combat against a blank page, the tossing and turning, the sweating, the screaming, the bleeding, you know, the classic version of writer’s block.
I also don’t get insomnia, which has much the same symptoms.
I solve both problems using one–though no necessarily good–solution. If I ever get a feeling that I might have trouble sleeping and/or writing, I simply avoid the bed/pen until I can stay awake/avoid my editor no longer.
While this strategy has indeed solved the insomnia/writer’s block problem, it has also brought on a new (and arguably worse) problem of bedtime inflation/procrastination. It’s kinda like bringing in cats to end a mice problem and then dogs to end a cat problem and then cougars to end a dog problem and then elephants to end a…
PS. As an example, here is what I did last night instead of writing/sleeping (notice how I apply the same intense concentration to all activities, not just authoring):
Categories: This Writer's Life · writing tips
Tagged: insomnia, procrastination, rock band, writer's block, writing tips
