November’s short is called Satan’s Cauldron and let me tell you, it turned out to be quite a bitch to write. You see, this time I decided to outline it and well, I didn’t much like it. In fact, I almost trashed it and started writing something else. I ended up using the basic premise of the outline as a foundation for it and freestyled the rest. What I actually ended up with is nowhere near what I had outlined. As I said in a previous post, it took me over four hours to write whereas it usually takes me only two. Suffice it to say, I won’t be outlining any more shorts from hereon out. I have to put in another weekend of overtime – a bummer, but it’s money – … Read entire article »

For this month’s Short!, Satan’s Cauldron, I decided to outline it like I’m doing with Piratas. Suffice it to say, and to make a long story short, I did the outline – It only took half an hour to do. – and ended up taking four and a half hours to write what I can normally freestyle in only two. I might try it again with December’s story, but it doesn’t look like outlining is going to have a place in my monthly shorts. We’ll see. … Read entire article »

… that is the question. Seeing as how I’ve been having a little trouble with my novel, the biggest part being the fact that I don’t write with a set goal – I just start writing and let whatever wants to come out, come out. -, has brought me to a standstill. Well, I shouldn’t say a standstill – more like a “literary downturn”, if I can poke a little fun at our current economic / political state. I don’t write with outlines – I just don’t. Then again, all I write are short stories that only have one plot point, a handful of characters, and are only a few pages in length from start to finish. It’s not that hard to let a story that short unfold on its own. … Read entire article »