Friday 28 August 2009

After much aimless wandering through the Internets, I came across the article “Why We Love Who We Love”, supposedly by Dr. Joyce Brothers. (Though it’s on romantic-lyrics.com—not exactly the most scholarly source).

The topic is endlessly fascinating to me, as someone who spends a lot of time putting imaginary characters together and documenting the attractions. Here’s a part that stuck with me (emphasis mine):

Sunday 19 July 2009

I made a “storyline” consisting of all my chapters featuring hot kisses and sex. That way you can skip all those 1600+ boring chapters and get straight to the good stuff.

“The Naughty Bits”

Saturday 4 July 2009

I thought that comments on the latest chapter had the potential to become a spoiler-​fest, so I wanted to move the discussion over here. I wanted to explain a few things about what I was trying to accomplish and why I made certain choices, because I actually feel a bit guilty about how some of the characters (Alred*cough*) turned out.

Thursday 25 June 2009

In case there are any of you who read this blog but don’t read Penelope’s, there has been an interesting discussion about writing humor on the Sims Writers Alliance this past week.

Thursday 18 June 2009

More on why it’s tough to write about happy-​sex:

Every scene is a cell containing all the information needed to build a story, and must have all of the most important elements of story making:

• Action—a stylized and sexier simulacrum of real time
• New information that moves the plot forward
• Compelling, unique leap-​off-​the-​page characters
• An emotional experience (absolutely linked to character)
• Vivid, plot-​relevant setting
• Dramatic tension, suspense or conflict

If you’re missing one of those ingredients, chances are your scene won’t work.

(by Jordan E. Rosenfeld on Editor Unleashed)

Monday 15 June 2009

I read this paragraph this morning and it’s been sticking with me all day:

I asked some writers at dinner today about it. Is there such a thing as writing about sex too much? One joked that he never stops writing about sex. Another said that it’s only too much if you’re doing it to avoid talking about intimacy. I think that’s spot on. In writing as in life.

(from http://​www​.michaelfau​ver​.com/)

Thursday 29 November 2007

I am not a tidy person at the best of times, and I haven’t seen the best of times in several years. The last time I cleaned off my desk was Thanksgiving two years ago, so that I would have space for all my boxes of ornaments when it came to decorating my Christmas tree.

Last year I just dumped the boxes precariously on top of the mess, and only half-​heartedly decorated the side of the tree you could see. And that is the most fitting metaphor I can find for that entire year.

Thursday 5 April 2007

Any Star Trek fans among you? Those of you who are will surely remember the classic episode “Mirror, Mirror”, in which the Enterprise crew meets with their doubles from a parallel universe. However, in this universe, the peace-​loving Federation is replaced by an evil Empire, torture is regularly used as discipline, and Mr. Spock has a goatee.

Why do I ask?