Writing is taking place constantly when you’re immersed in a book project. Hardly any of that writing is time spent typing or scratching a pencil on a paper. So, what is this mysterious thing? The time spent not actually writing is where the creativity takes place. That’s my theory anyways. Since this is not a […]
Author Archive | martin edic
Novel In Progress: 2) Vomiting It Up
2 Vomiting It Up I don’t know who said it but they compared the writing of your first draft to vomiting. Get it all out in one piece and don’t worry about whether it’s good. This is the single most important thing that made it possible for me to finish a novel. My rules for […]
Novel In Progress: 1) Perfection Infection
Want to kill your novel off fast? All you have to do is start editing everything, everyday. I read an article the other day about the experience of working in Writer’s Colonies like Yaddo, where you go for a few months, are given a private writing space and meals, and don’t have much to do […]
Novel In Progress: Introduction: No Writing Critique Here
This is the beginning of a series of posts based on a short book I’m writing about the process I went through writing my first novel, The Rememberers. It’s called: Novel In Progress, Getting Started, Keeping It Going, Getting It Done A Short Book About Process I’m writing it so I can understand the mysterious […]
Are books software?
They are now. But I’d argue that they were the original software: they help you learn things and skills, they are communication tools and they are easily reproducible. And now they actually are software, as digital files. I’ve been thinking about this because I’m teaching, with two others, a launchpad class of twelve software startups, […]
Impatience and driving
I am currently in possession of a car. It belongs to my sister. She bought a newer one but wanted to keep this one to give to her son when he gets his license (he is 22 so he’s a little overdue on that!). Until then I’m using it and helping her deal with a […]
Perfection and Imperfection in Meditation
“The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful, the first question I ask, is why do I think it’s not beautiful? And very shortly you discover that there is no reason. If we can conquer that dislike, or begin to like what we did dislike, then the world is more […]
Crows and triggers
I’ve been searching for an action point in my novel to move it towards a climax. A trigger of sorts. Today, while walking (actually more like slogging through the slush) it came to me as an image. I’m introducing a lot of crows to the scene. We have a flock here in the city that […]
The art of ending, novels and paintings
I’m almost done with my novel but I’m stuck on how to end it. This appears to be a fairly common problem with writers in general but it is still frustrating. I’ve gone through my bookshelf looking at endings by authors I respect. A surprising number of them abruptly kill off a main character: Gatsby, […]
Bus Excursion: Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing) and negative ions
By martin edic on November 13, 2012 in Buddhism, Climate, Health and Fitness, Meditation, No Car In America, Personal Power, spiritual awareness
This Sunday, with its record-breaking warmth for mid-November, seemed like a perfect day to take a trip I’d been thinking about for awhile. Grab a Portland bus, ride through the ghetto, cross into Irondequoit and get off at Sea Breeze to walk through the park and along the beach to my mother’s neighborhood. A lovely […]