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And the Novel's Title Is... Social Grooming for Higher Primates
2018-01-23 10:00:26
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Wordless Wednesdays - Giller Long List
2014-09-24 08:26:49
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Giller Long List Announced
2014-09-16 12:42:00
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Wordless Wednesdays - Literary Map of London
2014-09-10 11:27:17
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Books
2014-09-05 14:48:51
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Huh...
2014-09-04 22:35:10
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Happy Medium
2013-11-06 12:08:04
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The Edits
2013-04-24 17:05:18
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Final Stretch
2013-04-14 12:08:15
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Day 1,000,000 - April Update
2013-04-07 13:23:39
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Day 879 - Ch... Ch... Ch... Changes
2013-02-01 22:40:55
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Day 871 - Frozen
2013-01-24 23:09:37
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Day 863 - Another Gatsby Film Flop?
2013-01-16 22:37:57
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Day 862 - Why You Need a Professional Cover for Your Novel
2013-01-15 23:55:11
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Day 861 - Where is My Mind?
2013-01-15 00:53:15
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Day 859 - Sunday, Lovely Sunday
2013-01-13 16:22:45
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Day 857 - Graham Strong, International Book Smuggler
2013-01-11 00:40:34
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Day 856 - Editing Part 3
2013-01-09 22:29:33
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Day 854 - Combat Baby
2013-01-08 00:02:25
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Day 852 - Stay Tuned for More...
2013-01-06 01:04:56
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Day 851 - Lemon
2013-01-05 00:20:01
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Day 850 - Doing Some Ironing
2013-01-04 00:10:16
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Day 849 - The Sticky, Icky Middle
2013-01-02 23:22:51
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Day 848 - #NaNoWriMo? Make that #MyNoFiMo!
2013-01-01 22:58:42
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Her Name Is...
2012-12-06 23:51:24
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A ('nother) Case For Bookshelves
2012-11-20 14:26:52
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Caught on Tape! Fitzgerald Writing "The Great Gatsby"...
2012-11-17 10:53:19
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Going (Back) to Sugar Mountain
2012-11-13 09:58:33
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A Little Snippy...
2012-10-31 08:35:58
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"...a cutthroat cottage industry..."
2012-10-30 08:47:38
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The Difference Between Published Author and Not
2012-10-25 08:32:45
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Publish or Self-Publish? In Canada, the Question May Soon Be Moot...
2012-10-24 12:13:12
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Presumed First Edition...
2012-10-22 08:17:00
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Moby Dick...
2012-10-18 14:36:17
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Wordless Wednesdays - Oppan Gingham Style
2012-10-09 23:16:35
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Up in Maine
2012-10-06 10:30:34
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Tales for an Accelerated Culture
2012-10-03 10:39:20
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eBooks Were Made for Canada
2012-09-20 10:50:20
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Wordless Wednesdays: 50 Shades of Graham
2012-09-12 13:06:40
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Yesterday, I believed...
2012-09-10 09:09:17
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Tripping Over the Starting Line
2012-09-05 10:14:30
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The Bookstore at the End of the World
2012-09-02 12:34:01
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Stephen King has a Good Monday
2012-08-10 20:57:52
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Shook Hands with a Pulitzer Prize Winner Yesterday...
2012-06-29 00:53:49
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Nora Ephron
2012-06-26 22:43:58
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Rex Pickett to Write New Sideways Sequel
2012-06-17 14:56:13
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Can You Spare a Few Minutes?
2012-06-13 21:59:43
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No, You're the Mann
2012-05-24 23:25:12
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He's the Mann
2012-05-22 21:59:05
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Where I Am...
2012-05-16 08:33:16
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OTF - Thunder Bay YA Writer Lee Chambers' Free Book Offer!
2012-04-09 12:21:22
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Guest Post - Laura Roberts EXTRA!
2012-04-04 09:24:53
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Guest Post: Laura Roberts on Writing "Rebels of the 512" Crazy Fast
2012-04-03 08:51:51
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OTF - Everything you need...
2012-03-25 11:24:40
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Beware... Day 560
2012-03-18 11:25:15
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OTF - Picture This...
2012-03-13 23:13:41
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Cruising on a Sunday Afternoon - Day 552
2012-03-11 11:26:10
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I've Been Cheating On You - Day 548
2012-03-07 23:39:50
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A Definition of Voice (Wrenched from My Guts and Served on a Platter For You) - Day 538
2012-02-26 10:54:17
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Wordless Wednesdays - Show Me the Hunny.
2012-01-25 11:56:23
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Wordless Wednesdays - You Can't Spell "You And I Are Free" Without "Irony"
2012-01-18 08:55:04
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Wordless Wednesday - Flippin' Terry Fallis
2012-01-11 09:06:23
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Wordless Wednesdays: A New Idea for Old Books
2012-01-04 09:22:09
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Day 484 - Why Do You Read?
2012-01-03 15:08:47
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Wordless Wednesdays: Only 366 Days Left...
2011-12-21 12:03:56
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Day 470 - The Games Writers Play
2011-12-20 08:50:02
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Wordless Wednesdays: Duncan Weller Book Signing
2011-12-14 09:33:57
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OTF: Why New Journalism Works
2011-12-09 12:07:58
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Wordless Wednesdays: YMAL, y'all!
2011-12-07 14:06:23
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OTF: On Literal S&M
2011-12-01 10:09:05
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Random Thought: Curling Up with a Good Book
2011-11-24 08:28:01
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OTF: Wordless Wednesday - This Book Makes Me Laugh
2011-11-23 12:20:06
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OTF: Ode to Rewriting
2011-11-21 16:11:53
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OTF: Why the Whole "Write What You Know" Premise is Bunk
2011-11-14 12:24:40
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Wordless Wednesdays - A Day Late but A Dollar Extra
2011-11-11 08:47:49
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OTF: Elmore Leonard on the Publishing Industry (Sort of) and The Hack Novelist
2011-11-08 08:51:10
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Day 425 - I'm In Love...
2011-11-05 11:47:59
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OTF: I Don't Get It, Johnny Depp, and My Third Novel...
2011-10-27 08:35:30
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OTF: Eagles are a Good Omen, Right?
2011-10-21 11:33:19
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Writing Tip: The Number One Thing That Will Help You Write Faster During NaNoWriMo...
2011-10-19 07:41:07
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OTF: Johanna Skibsrud
2011-10-17 16:32:57
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OTF: Elizabeth Ruth and Chef Michael Smith
2011-10-14 16:37:22
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OTF: Grass, Trees, and Rex Pickett on the Real Maya...
2011-10-13 16:58:24
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The Plot Thickens Like Jam on Toast -- Day 396
2011-10-08 10:21:46
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Swamped with Words This Friday
2011-10-06 09:42:47
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Is Publishing on Kindle Really Self-Publishing?
2011-09-29 09:17:47
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UPDATE: Getting to the Roots of the Coupland Signature Mystery
2011-09-27 13:48:56
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Does Douglas Coupland Think I’m What’s Wrong with the Human Race?
2011-09-23 13:30:51
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Yeah, What Seth Godin Said...
2011-09-22 08:24:38
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Reality Bites - Day 369
2011-09-10 12:14:34
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WIP, One Year On - Day 366
2011-09-07 11:02:52
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For Those About to Write - Day 363
2011-09-04 12:55:04
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The Three-Day Novel Contest: If You Can’t Be Them, Coin Them - Day 351
2011-08-23 12:18:22
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The 401 Blues (Not a Rant) - Day 344
2011-08-16 11:11:33
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A Definition of Selling Out for Writers - Day 337
2011-08-10 10:56:55
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Are Lawsuits Against Writers About to Rise? - Day 334
2011-08-06 23:40:34
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What To Do When Your Story Has 11 Fingers - Day 332
2011-08-05 00:50:55
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Unsnagging the Line - Day 328
2011-08-02 09:52:44
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Truth Like a Blanket That Always Leaves Your Feet Cold - Day 326
2011-07-30 00:21:49
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Knocked Unconsciously by Harmonic Convergence - Day 324
2011-07-28 12:40:57
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Should Novel Writing Be More Like Letter Writing? - Day 323
2011-07-26 23:39:46
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Put Those Grammarians to Work on Your Book - Day 313
2011-07-16 09:50:11
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What's the First Rule of Mime Club? - Day 308
2011-07-12 00:29:15
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Going Vertical - Day 307
2011-07-11 18:14:16
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One Egg - Day 306
2011-07-09 10:52:57
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They Say You Shouldn’t Meet Your Heroes, But Can You Email Them?
2011-07-07 23:02:57
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How I Won a Random House Twitter Contest! - Day 302
2011-07-05 22:25:16
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Getting My Grooveshark On - Day 300
2011-07-03 11:49:13
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Should Self-Published Authors Get An Advance? - Day 299
2011-07-02 19:37:49
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Should We Be Telling, NOT Showing? - Day 298
2011-07-01 09:07:55
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School's Out For Summer - Day 296
2011-06-29 23:40:31
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Is Pottermore Really Self-Publishing? - Day 294
2011-06-27 23:13:56
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Life - Don't Talk to Me About Life - Day 293
2011-06-26 22:54:43
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More Harry Potter, Now with 100% Less Publisher! - Day 289
2011-06-23 23:12:47
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Late Night, Early Morning - Day 287
2011-06-21 23:35:31
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Fumbling Towards Part 1 - Day 286
2011-06-20 23:22:45
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An Act of Recommittedness - Day 285
2011-06-19 21:31:13
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I Don't Care What They Say, Writing Isn't Lonely - Day 279
2011-06-13 16:31:13
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Sympathy for the Pigeonholes - Day 274
2011-06-08 11:38:41
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Sleepy... So Sleepy - Day 261
2011-05-26 22:42:13
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Happy Towel Day, My Hoopy Froods - Day 259
2011-05-24 22:53:37
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The Definition of Irony? - Day 258
2011-05-23 23:51:52
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Green, Green Grass of Home - Day 257
2011-05-22 23:04:14
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Hey, Hey, I Guess It Hasn't Hit Me Yet - Day 256
2011-05-21 23:58:22
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The Movie Never Ends - Day 249
2011-05-14 10:45:32
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Back When Digital Watches Were Still A Pretty Neat Idea - Day 246
2011-05-11 23:16:38
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What Are You Doing This Second? - Day 245
2011-05-11 00:13:36
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May Day - Day 236
2011-05-01 22:09:54
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What We Do - Day 230
2011-04-25 22:47:37
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Dropping Pretenses - Day 224
2011-04-19 22:46:01
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Vertical Movie in the Works(?) and Bucket List Updated - Day 218
2011-04-13 23:55:11
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Help Wanted: Writing The Writers’ Bucket List
2011-04-05 22:53:49
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Draft 2b or Not 2b... - Day 208
2011-04-03 12:37:40
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Getting Ready to Go Vertical - Day 204
2011-03-30 23:52:57
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Oof, Bedtime - Day 203
2011-03-29 22:42:50
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Back in the Saddle - Day 202
2011-03-28 23:25:14
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Valley of Ashes, a Scene to Behold - Day 201
2011-03-27 23:22:13
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Backfiring and Bull Durham - Day 200
2011-03-26 17:17:27
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Blue Monday (or is it Wednesday today?) - Day 197
2011-03-24 00:24:11
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Not Quite One Egg - Day 196
2011-03-23 00:08:00
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Breakthrough - Day 194
2011-03-20 22:28:59
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Convergences & Connecticutions - Day 193
2011-03-19 23:17:00
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Babylon Visited, or My Trip To Fitzgerald's House - Day 190
2011-03-16 23:56:59
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Will Agents Become Publicists? - Day 185
2011-03-11 21:19:31
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Poke the Box, Or Who's Shacking Up in the Book Industry? - Day 184
2011-03-10 22:01:07
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Big News... Interview in Black Heart Magazine
2011-03-08 14:40:59
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What Should You Be Studying While Writing a Novel? - Day 181
2011-03-07 08:42:48
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Why Publishers Aren't Obsolete - Day 179
2011-03-06 10:02:53
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Train Keeps On Rolling... - Day 178
2011-03-05 00:24:37
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Light at the End of the Tunnel - Day 174
2011-02-28 18:43:00
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Panning for Gold - Day 169
2011-02-23 23:16:57
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Note to Self
2011-02-23 08:41:38
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A Game of Inches - Day 168
2011-02-22 23:01:33
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Room 101 Revisited - Day 167
2011-02-21 18:11:56
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Walking a Mile in the Character's Shoes - Day 165
2011-02-19 21:09:46
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Checking In With Amanda Hocking's Reality - Day 162
2011-02-15 23:31:17
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Fighting the Fear - Day 160
2011-02-13 23:18:36
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A Tale of Two Tales - Day 159
2011-02-13 00:24:13
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"One Vintage" Book Draw - And the Winner Is...
2011-02-11 18:19:31
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Terry Fallis Wins Canada Reads 2011 - Day 156
2011-02-09 23:21:36
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Commas Gone Wilde, or When Does Editing Get to Be Too Much? - Day 155
2011-02-08 22:56:38
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What Norman Mailer and I Have In Common - Day 154
2011-02-07 22:54:57
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Saturday Morning's Alright for Writin' - Day 152
2011-02-05 11:33:26
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Writing the Second Draft: How I’m Surviving the Transition from Muses to Musing - Day 151
2011-02-04 00:26:22
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The Domino Project by Seth Godin (and Amazon...!) - Day 150
2011-02-02 21:34:54
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Ringing the Sad Death Knell for the Book - Day 149
2011-02-01 19:48:38
Let me preface all this by first stating that I embrace change. And then by qualifying it by saying that of course I mean “good” change, and recognizing that like most people (especially over the age of, ahem, 20-ish), change can be difficult for me sometimes.
But when I heard the CBC Radio show Ideas talking about “Closing the Book” – quite literally – I started to get a little nervous. (Please click here to continue.)
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Drafting Success - Day 148
2011-01-31 14:58:03
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What We Lack - Day 145
2011-01-28 18:12:43
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Treading Water in a Maelstrom - Day 143
2011-01-26 23:22:39
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Is Self-Publishing the Answer for New Writers? - Day 140
2011-01-24 22:31:21
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Day 134 - Will Books Become a Luxury Item?
2011-01-18 21:52:49
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Day 133 - Monday, Monday
2011-01-17 22:56:48
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Day 132 - Outline or Just Write? Why Co-Dependency is Working For Me
2011-01-16 16:21:15
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Day 129 - "Writers are Feckless Fools"
2011-01-13 12:22:15
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Day 127 - Chalk Outlines
2011-01-11 23:15:24
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Day 126 - Can't Touch This
2011-01-10 14:41:04
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Day 123 - Easy as 123
2011-01-07 19:21:31
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Day 122 - Can't Get You Outta My Head
2011-01-06 23:24:30
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Day 120 - Water, Water, Everywhere...
2011-01-05 00:36:56
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Day 119 - Finished Writing on First Draft!
2011-01-03 22:32:25
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Day 118 - Kindling
2011-01-03 00:05:18
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Day 117 - New Day (and Year) Dawning
2011-01-01 23:30:44
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Day 115 - A Tribe Called Seth
2010-12-30 16:57:44
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Day 114 - Face in a Crowd
2010-12-29 17:18:05
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Day 112 - The Motel on the Way to Somewhere Else
2010-12-27 17:50:23
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Day 111 - The Big 100,000! (Anyone Want to Buy A Used Keyboard?)
2010-12-26 15:46:13
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Day 109 - The Word is "Colander"
2010-12-24 15:48:39
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Day 106 - ...And If Anyone Orders Any !*&#W Merlot, I'm Leaving.
2010-12-21 16:12:38
There's a great line in Sideways (the movie) that Maya says to Miles:
"I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes."
Writer Chris Jones took that line as inspiration for her own book, One Vintage.
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Day 104
2010-12-19 23:59:20
Tom Wolfe started as a newspaperman, one of those old time reporters.
"...it was always nighttime in my daydreams of the newspaper life. Reporters didn't work during the day." (Please click here to continue.)
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Capote on Non-Fiction Novels
2010-12-18 23:40:13
I sometimes feel that when I stop writing, that is when I am most honest. Yes, I can plop down my hour's worth of words on the page. I can doodle, stringing a bunch of words together that may have meaning, but have no feeling. Or intent. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 101 - Ram On
2010-12-17 00:00:22
Late night again today – too busy today to get my hour in, and too tired tonight to finish it. Got half my time in, but now I have to turn in. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 100 - Ahead by a Century
2010-12-15 23:18:25
Another awesome writing session. Still bouncing around from vignette to vignette – two major scenes coming up in the coming days that I already have forming in my head. I have a lot of material that I want to get down before I start Draft 2. In fact, the way things are going, I might just patch together more vignettes if they keep coming, maybe all the way through to the end of the book... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 99 - 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall (Of Course)
2010-12-15 00:34:09
Big day! Lots of good word goodness on the page, and a fairly big milestone – my last day in double digits. Admittedly, I haven't written every single one of those 99 days, but I'm still writing, so I'll count that as a win. Plus, I tripped over the 90,000-word mark, so double-plus-good-on-ya!
(Please click here to continue.)
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Welcome Old Blog Readers to the New Blog!
2010-12-14 16:00:11
If you were a follower of my old blog and found an update today for this new one, I'd like to welcome you!
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Day 98 - This Little Piggy...
2010-12-13 17:30:15
Another decent session. Got some good conflict going, not to mention ironed out a few more plot points of the final story. It's interesting, taking this whole approach to writing the story. I really feel like I have room to explore different avenues that I wouldn't be able to follow if I was locked into a specific framework. I mean, yes, the whole thing will have to fall into a framework eventually. But I guess it's like packing a travel bag – you get out all the things you want to bring with you first, and then you start deciding what to leave out when you try to fit it all in.
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Day 97 - My Kind of Town
2010-12-12 23:32:17
Part way through another vignette. Well, actually, I think I'm stringing together several vignettes into a narrative of sorts. So for those of you scoring at home, I guess you could say I finished one vignette and moved on to the next in succession.
(Please click here to continue.)
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Day 96 - Final Countdown
2010-12-11 23:24:42
Wrote out tonight, at a coffee shop. Kind of nice to get out of the office. Not much to report other than that today; I didn't knock it out of the park like yesterday, but did start another... vignette, I'll call them.
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Day 95 - Red Red Wine
2010-12-11 01:20:01
Awesome writing session today. I actually wrote this morning – working with a fresh mind seemed to make all the difference. I laid down the scene I struggled with last night. It's sharp and funny (I think) and really helps set the tone of the book. There will probably be changes to some of the details, but overall loving the scene.
I think I'll be writing little scenes like that for the next few days.
(Please click here to continue.)
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Day 94 - Good Night, Saigon
2010-12-10 00:01:21
I'm in it, I don't mind telling you. I'm writing in circles. Not precisely happy with what I'm writing. I actually had hoped to get a bit of inspiration lately, but things didn't quite work out the way I'd planned them. Not that it has a huge bearing on where I am write now. Well, maybe it does.
Anyway. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 93 - Imagine
2010-12-08 23:46:10
The 30th anniversary today. I was there in New York with some very good friends for the 10th anniversary. We had found this little Irish pub for a bit of dinner before going to the park. As happens sometimes when you're young, dinner often becomes just the mattress in your stomach to cushion the countless ounces of beer, shooters, wine, and whatever else you choose to let free-fall down there... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 86 - A Bolt of Blue
2010-12-02 00:19:52
Sorry excuse for a word count today. Various reasons – lack of focus is certainly one of them. Also did a bit more "on-the-fly" research than normal, nailing down a few details about a couple of locations (yes, our heros are on the move again...)
That being said, there were some good breakthroughs. I came up with a second working title today. I really like it, but it might just miss the mark. Trying to be ironic, but it's coming off as cheesy instead. (Happens to me all the time...) Of course, I'll not decide on a title 'til the whole thing's finished. Titles always come last in my book (pun definitely intended -- also speaks to the cheesy in me, eh?) (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 84 - Ride With Me
2010-12-01 00:17:00
One egg ('cause it's late). But 80,000+ now – woohoo! (Please click here to continue.)
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Life...
2010-11-29 23:01:54
"Life. Don't talk to me about Life."
Marvin, the Paranoid Android
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I know it's been a while since I've posted – too long in fact. I'll blame it on Life, the Universe, and Everything.
No, I haven't gotten a lot of progress in the actual writing of the novel. But that's not to say I haven't been busy. Actually, I've gone through some of the most creative days since I started, jotting down many notes. The shape of the storyline is really starting to come together now. I don't want to misrepresent myself; there's still a long way to go. But for the first time, the actual frame of the story with the character interactions, plot points, etc. are really starting to come together. Not only that, but I've really made some headway on the themes (not to mention, how to pull it all together).
So yes, I am very happy with my progress, even if it is not the tangible, words-on-the-meter kind of progress... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 76 - Stop Spreading the News
2010-11-22 08:04:14
One egg. (Actually, more than that to say, but time's run out...) ~Graham (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 75 - 75,000 Words and Mission:Impossible!
2010-11-20 12:03:00
On Thursday night, I sat down to do my hour. A few minutes later, I was overcome with a wave of nausea. It was kind of like that scene in Mission: Impossible (the first movie) where the tech goes into the locked room, and then the drug kicks in, and he has to leave. Except in the end, I wasn't sick like that, though I certainly wasn't well.
Yesterday, got some work in and felt better, but increasingly worse as the day wore on, so didn't get my hour in there either.
(Incidentally, when I did get back to my office, there was a huge, black, military-style bowie knife stuck into my desk. Instinctively I looked up; the laser motion sensors were still working in the drop ceiling. Weird. But if Tom Cruise happens to come out with novel in the next few months, you know what happened...) (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 72 - The Great Gatsby
2010-11-18 00:13:34
Okay, heard today that they're making another Hollywood movie of The Great Gatsby with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. Mixed feelings about this – someone out there asked the question, do we really need another Gatsby movie?
As far as I'm concerned, there's always room for one more. I've seen three different versions, and I haven't been a big fan of any of them (yes, including the Robert Redford one. And yes, I'm aware of the heresy.) I don't think they captured the true essence of the book – you watch the Redford version today, and it looks more 70s than it does 20s... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 71 - Sideways
2010-11-16 23:22:14
Just found out today that in exactly one week from Tuesday, the sequel to Sideways will be published. Quite aptly, it is call Vertical.
Now as some of you know, Sideways the movie is one of my favourites – it was one of those rare movies that not only captured the book in many ways, but took advantage of the things that movies could do that a book couldn't like film the actual vineyards and incorporate that quirky music that really made it. (BTW, if we played a really short game of "What Sideways character are you?", I'd be Miles. But then you knew that...) (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 70 - The Ides of November
2010-11-15 22:47:17
One egg. (Please click here to continue.)
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UPDATE: The Other Side of the Publishing Coin...
2010-11-15 15:14:15
Turns out that Gaspereau Press is teaming up with another publisher after all to meet demand for The Sentimentalists, but will still print its own, unique versions. The perfect compromise, I think. (I'm one of those who will probably hold out for a Gaspereau Press one though...) (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 69 - I Am the Walrus
2010-11-15 12:39:02
I used to read George Orwell's blog. Actually, not a blog per se (in case you didn't guess) but a posting of his journal entries from exactly 70 years ago. Right now, he's writing about the London bombing (and, unfortunately, his latest post has a bit of a racist slant...)
In any case, some of his journal entries are long and rich with content. Others, when he didn't have much to say, would simply recount the number of eggs that the chickens gave him that morning. "One egg." That would be an entire entry for that day. Regular readers would get such a kick out of it too, like it was an inside joke or something... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 68 - Home for a Rest
2010-11-13 10:43:13
Great progress today – I nailed a pretty key scene that most definitely will be in the final version in some way or another. I'm not going to let on too much about it, but my last two posts heavily influenced this scene. It also makes for a key turning point in the story and in one of the themes of the book.
Perhaps most telling is the fact that I worked out my own feelings on the subject. Writers typically see both sides of the story, which is good for what we do. But in life, that can lead to wishy-washiness. How can you choose one option when you empathize with both positions? (Please click here to continue.)
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The Other Side of the Publishing Coin...
2010-11-12 13:50:33
"If you are going to buy a copy of that book in Canada, it’s damn well coming out of my shop.” said Andrew Steeves, publisher at Gaspereau Press, in The Globe and Mail. And he said that before "that book" went from mere Giller Prize short-lister to actual winner...
The book of course is The Sentimentalists, by Johanna Skibsrud. The media may or may not be playing up how frustrated she is with the publisher, but the fact is that this small press cares a lot about books. Actual, physical, books. So much so that it refuses to abandon its 1,000-per-week, hand-crafted method of printing them in order to play into Giller fever. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 65 - "The Old Book Is Dead..."
2010-11-11 08:12:40
Very mixed feelings about this video, posted on the Globe and Mail this morning.
Essentially, Peter Svensson sliced up a 1913 edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales, and in about an hour, scanned in all the pages so that he could bring it into his iPad. This gave him a "realistic" feel to the book because, when scanning in colour, you get the old, yellowed-pages look... (Please click here to continue.)
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"Mad Men" Book Another Example of Making Up Non-Fiction
2010-11-09 08:04:34
Came across this today, while drinking my morning coffee.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/fake-mad-men-character-gets-real-book/#more-138893
I don't watch Mad Men -- I've seen a couple, but haven't really immersed myself it it -- but it's interesting that a character in the show (not the actor) would have a book. It's close to what I'm doing, though the narrator of my book isn't on TV (yet... lol). (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 63 - 25 or 6 to 4
2010-11-08 22:55:53
Little off today, but all in all, not a bad writing session. Took a trip up a sidewalk, tried to intermingle a couple of different storylines, which I think worked kind of well. I think a lot of this section will be changed, but laid down a good basis... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 62 - Anything That Isn't Related to Elephants is Irrelephant.
2010-11-07 11:54:46
Today is my eighth-favourite day of the year. The clocks go back for an extra hour - yay! I wish every day had an extra hour. Think of the extra things I could do! Today, I used it for sleep. Which is pretty much what I do with it every year. But hey, I feel refreshed. At this point, that's one of the best things you could hope for... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 61 - ADVICE - "Shut Up, Editor – You Don't Own Me"
2010-11-06 12:19:15
The most bewildering advice a writer ever gets is "just write".
It doesn't make much sense, on the surface of it. If you're blocked, then "just writing" is like telling Mother Hubbard to just cook -- there's nothing in the damn cupboard, so the best you can do is cook the damn dog, and that ain't happening. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 57 - Another Dime in the Jukebox, Baby
2010-11-02 23:43:04
Slow night tonight. Still, got some done. Time for bed though, methinks. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 56 - Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
2010-11-01 22:56:00
Nothing much to report. Got a good solid hour in, and wrote over 1,700 words. Developing some more tension between the two characters, and actively trying to separate their voices so they are a little more distinct... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 54 - Where is My Mind?
2010-10-31 01:12:43
Punched out just over a thousand more words today, but trying to figure out how to track someone on a BlackBerry. Does anyone out there know? Is there like an app that makes your location available to someone else, so they can find you? I thought Facebook was doing something like this -- and maybe I saw something on a Roger's commercial? Anyway, I did quick research because I didn't want to waste too much time surfing for new info. I'll look more, but if anyone out there has an answer for me, please comment below or contact me privately -- thanks! (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 52 - The Tell-Tale Heart
2010-10-29 00:21:24
About 30 hours without power. Over 48 hours without phone or Internet. As I said to several people once contact had been re-established, going off the grid is great when it's planned and you are taking a little vay-cay. It sucks though when you still have work on the go on said grid, yet you can't quite reach it... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 49 - Back in the Saddle Again
2010-10-25 22:49:19
Wow. What a struggle. Demons are swirling around me, sitting on my shoulders, whispering the darkest things -- you know what I mean. Everyone knows what is in Room 101... (Please click here to continue.)
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Refilling the Well...
2010-10-23 19:13:58
Hey all,
Still here -- just refilling the well a little bit. Although I intentionally stopped writing for a few days, I've had a number of questions running through my head as of late about the book. I've mentioned before I'm not sure the tension is where it should be, so I'm trying to work out how to fix that. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 44 - Ordinary World
2010-10-20 23:11:22
15 minutes. 165 words. Enough said. ~Graham (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 43 - Buddy Holly
2010-10-19 23:54:56
Wow, social mediaed today while I wrote. In other words, chatted with my old friend Sam on Facebook as I zapped in and out of the scene. I felt almost like I was cheating, but (a) I was flipping seamlessly between the two and (b) again, social media's a big part of this theme, so living it while I was writing it is, I think, perfectly acceptable and even encouraged... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 42 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2010-10-18 23:48:06
More development, another (perhaps) major character and a couple of minor ones. Still chugging along, and tweaking tension as I go. I'm getting a firmer grasp of the story arch, so I am starting to build the "architecture" in my head. Should be ready to go by the time Draft 2 comes around... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 41 - Switching to Glide
2010-10-17 23:43:26
I've been a bad boy.
Well, perhaps not *bad* bad. I really have very good reasons for writing a couple of hundred words on Friday and absolutely nothing yesterday. Suffice to say, life has been busy. The wee'un's out of the hospital, but not out of the woods. And my whiteboard is still blue and green and black. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 38 - Does Everyone Stare?
2010-10-15 00:40:55
Missed yesterday -- the wee'un's in the hospital with a major eye infection, so between running back and forth there and trying to keep up with my overdrive work schedule, I'm done. I managed to get an hour in today, though I'm hitting past exhaustion now. I've got to call it a night. (Please click here to continue.)
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Days 35/36 - What's the Frequency Kenneth?
2010-10-12 23:26:24
Yes, wrote yesterday and today, but only time for a blog post today, and a quick one at that. Very busy work wise -- I'll sliding in my hour between late nights for the next few days. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 34 - Strange Days
2010-10-11 00:01:46
Strange day today -- actually broke up my hour into three parts. I don't recommend it. I was lucky today that I had a fairly clear bead on what I wanted to write, but if I was confused at all, it would have been a very slow, inefficient day getting back into the groove each time. But starting and stopping was beyond my control, and it all worked out, so I'm not complaining... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 33 - Strawberry Fields Forever
2010-10-09 19:18:36
Another busy family day -- got my hour in this morning, but had to take off immediately so I'm posting now.
Not much of import today actually. Worked through the snafu I had putting togehter my latest scene, and I think I resolved all the problems I was foreseeing. The section will require heavy re-writing though -- but that's for another day to worry about. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 32 - Imagine
2010-10-08 23:40:27
Today would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday.
When I was in New York last year, there was a special section of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex dedicated to John Lennon. It was put together by Yoko Ono apparently, and was very well done -- if not a little disturbing. The room was piano white, with white displays holding clear glass to house such memorabilia photos and records. And the bag of bloody clothes, unopened, that the New York Police Department returned to Yoko... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 31 - May Day
2010-10-07 23:30:00
Hit another interesting question today. How much of my writing time should be spent doing research? Many -- perhaps most -- days I look up something or other. I mentioned early on that while writing about a location, I used Google Street View to get a visual of the place. I did that again yesterday, and extensively today. It's interesting, "walking" up the street and seeing what I'd see if I were actually there. Of course the views aren't perfect, but since I won't be there any time soon, it will do for now. It's more than enough to get a sense of the place -- it helps in both yesterday's and today's cases that I've already been to these two places... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 30 - All Creatures Great And Small
2010-10-06 22:57:02
The past couple of days I've been hammering out a scene -- well, I broke my own rule and rewrote a (small) bit of the stuff I had down already. The reason was because I realized the effect I was looking for wasn't quite working. Today, I found out how to make it flow better, but it meant reworking what had come before. I briefly wrestled with the moral implications of breaking one of my Cardinal rules. But only briefly. When I had it solid in my head right now, I wasn't going to risk having it fly out into the ether during the weeks or months before I finally get back to this spot to rewrite... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 29 - The Winds of Change
2010-10-05 22:32:22
A great day writing today, though I did already have a scene in mind. It's not quite finished yet, but it is close -- definitely tomorrow. I think it's a keeper too, in some form... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 28 - Ramble On
2010-10-04 22:57:49
Played with the idea of skipping today in recognition of my birthday, but thought hey, what better way to spend part of the day creating something? Besides, it's basically a force of habit now, which I think is a good thing. I thought I heard somewhere that if you did something everyday for 21 days, it would automatically become habit. When I hit Day 21, I looked that up and found that although there was some truth to it, the number "21" was an urban myth. It could take three days, it could take 546 days. It depended on the activity as well as the type of person you are... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 27 - Let It Be
2010-10-03 13:23:00
Another divergence today -- and another step forward, I think. I'm realizing that my storyline is running a little flat -- not enough conflict. Not that everything's daisies, mind you, but there is room for a knife fight here and there (at least figuratively). So I'm adding a few of those in.
I think in the second draft, once I know the structure of the story, I'll be in a better position to really draw the tension together. Still, not a bad idea to try to build it in as I go along. Besides, it's good exercise... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 26 - The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul
2010-10-02 19:22:00
It's been a struggle.
Not only has time (or lack thereof) been a factor, but I'm starting to get a little bogged down in the storyline. I'm trying not to let this bother me, just pushing through and letting come what may. This is working somewhat, though on several occasions I've just stopped what I was writing and started on a new tangent to keep things moving (somewhat) forward... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 24/25 - Paradise Lost
2010-10-01 19:29:42
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Day 23 - Our Italian Restaurant
2010-09-29 22:34:37
The Voice (I'm going to start capitalizing it here) is back, and this time I think for good. However, I still need to fashion it somewhat. It is raw -- definitely in a good way -- and I'm just going to let it run with the hook for a little while before I start to reel it in.
Again, not expecting a lot of tonight's work to make the final cut, but I am really enjoying the groove I'm in, so what the hell. I'm also getting a better sense of the characters, and I've developed a number of "hooks" that just keep coming out of the blue as I go along. So I think I'll wander this path a little bit longer... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 22 - Mean Streets
2010-09-29 00:29:09
Catching the voice again. Very happy for that, but concerned as ever about whether or not it will work. I mean I like it, but it is a kind of dry kind of writing. Sorry, check that. Not dry as in boring, but dry as in dry humour. Kind of straight-man-to-the-world's-comic, with a dash of healthy sarcasm to boot. I have to be careful I think not to make it too heavy. The goal is to make for interesting reading, but obviously not to weigh down the reader and make him/her think too much. Tricky... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 21 - Save a Prayer
2010-09-27 22:51:55
Twenty-one days. Three weeks. 30,000+ words. In the immortal words of Homer Simpson, wa-hoo!
I went back to Day 7 to review what I wrote then in an attempt to latch onto that voice again. It worked somewhat -- I wasn't able to hit exactly that same groove, but I did manage to bend my current direction back into that direction. Very happy for that. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 20 - In the Air Tonight
2010-09-26 13:17:08
I concentrated on "crafting" the words today rather than just throw them onto the paper. That worked for the first few paragraphs, but then I fell back into my regular writing rhythm. I must admit, I'm a little confused as to what I should do. Having a regular writing rhythm can't be a bad thing per se. But if the writing is no good, then there's no point... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 19 - Every Me and Every You
2010-09-25 12:28:16
Got some good sleep last night, and woke up quite refreshed. Wow, a long week! I don't think I was in bed before midnight once this week. I think it really affected the writing. It's hard to force yourself to write when the muses are sleeping...
Well, as I had hoped, I got my hour in early today. More laying down of story, but not a lot of style development. I'm hoping that it just starts kicking in, but I'm getting a little worried now. Maybe I should take a passage and just concentrate on developing the style. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 18 - Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
2010-09-25 00:07:22
Writing in a fog tonight. I'm surprised I got as many words down as I did. However, I am definitely going to start a bit earlier tomorrow... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 17 - Combat Baby
2010-09-24 00:28:05
Fighting a little lull -- I was on such a high from yesterday's revelations, and was jotting down notes all day (notes aren't cheating, btw. In fact they're encouraged -- I've lost too many ideas over the years that were never written down...) and was excited to jump back into it tonight. However, a combination of tiredness and that creative energy burning itself off somewhat throughout the day has left me a little flat... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 16 - The Unbearable Lightness of Bee-ing
2010-09-23 01:01:51
100% convinced now to do this as a "non-fiction" book, kickin' it old school with the New Journalism. But in reverse.
I'll explain... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 15 - The Sun Also Rises
2010-09-22 00:57:49
I was itching to make up the time I missed yesterday. That's got to be a good sign. It's been like when you've lost something, and you can't remember where you put it, and you obsessively keep searching every little nook and cranny (sometimes 17 times) until you finally dig it up. That's what it felt like. Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit for effect, but you get the point... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 14 - Daddy's Going to Pay For Your Crashed Car
2010-09-21 01:15:03
It had to happen eventually, I suppose. Life -- and work -- intervened today... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 13 - Cannonball
2010-09-19 11:15:48
I got my hour in early today - well, relatively early. Before evening. I'm feeling great -- I actually want to keep writing, even after the buzzer has gone. I take that to be a good sign.
I'm still trying to play with the style a bit -- I'm leaning towards a bit of a more journalistic style, kind of like The New Journalism style in Tom Wolfe's book that Duncan Weller was telling me about. I haven't actually read the book yet, but I feel that I have a sense of that style already, having read some of Wolfe's stuff as well as Hunter S. Thompson. The Great Gatsby, I think, could be put into that genre as well, at least as a forerunner. After all, who is Nick Carraway but a narrator reporting on someone else's story? I'm certain it wasn't Fitzgerald's intention to invent The New Journalism, but echoes are there nonetheless. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 12 - You've Got Mail
2010-09-18 23:41:22
Another long narrative passage, though I did get a nice bit of dialogue in that I'm pretty sure will be in the final version pretty much intact. That's saying something -- a lot of this is really just laying down a foundation to build up the story afterwards. I'm developing characters, plot, and themes as I go, so I'm expecting that 99% of what I write right now will be extensively reworked. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 11 - Gold Guns Girls
2010-09-18 00:32:31
Hit that voice again -- finally! Not convinced it will work precisely. It will definitely need refining. But I'm very happy to explore it, see how it plays out.
Covered another key scene, this time trying to concentrate on keeping tension up between the two main characters. It's kind of hard, because they are essentially friends, and they are both off on an adventure together. That's supposed to be fun, right? But there is always sources of tension, even if you just kind of ignore it in real life. I've got to dig that out though to keep the story interesting. (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 10 - How Soon is Now?
2010-09-16 23:12:26
I ran into Susan Goldberg today at the school's annual BBQ. She's already co-edited a book And Baby Makes More: Known Donors, Queer Parents and Our Unexpected Families, and is currently working on a novel as well. (She also has a blog: http://mamanongrata.com/) Although we didn't have long to chat, it was kind of cool talking with someone who is in the thick of their own book, though she is much further along than I am.
It's always a kind of "islands in a stream" feeling though (at least for me). Kind of doing the same thing, but both doing it separately. (Please click here to continue.)
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"A Few Strong Words" Tops Google Search
2010-09-16 13:29:56
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Day 9 - Lost Together
2010-09-15 23:15:17
I am thoroughly exhausted, so I'll make this quick. Got my hour, fumbled through some plot, but going blind and tired from so much work today and then writing tonight... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 8 - A Room with a View
2010-09-14 23:17:32
I've switched gears nicely I think, combining a nice bit of narrative with a good amount of dialogue. I managed to keep the same voice going, and I'm still liking the style, so that's a good thing. It is a more natural way for me to write, I think, except that I'm not entirely convinced that it conveys the meaning that I want it too. I still have to work on beefing up some of the details -- the style needs a bit more refining, I guess is what I'm saying. But that will come as I keep banging away.
Bit of a long scene again today -- I'm actually not even finished with it yet. The plot still hasn't moved a whole lot, though tomorrow it will certainly pick up when the protaganist realizes a very major error that he's made... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 7 - Sign o' the Times
2010-09-13 23:34:03
It's now officially been a week, and I must say I am very, very happy with my progress (extra "very" added for dramatic effect). I passed 10,000 words today, which I think is a huge accomplishment. And my literary "voice" cracked today, giving me a whole new sound that I'm excited about.
I was saying to Noël (my wife, for those who don't know) that I am eminently confident with my marketing writing, and that I tend to know what is good and what is not. However, I'm in a whole different bowl of soup here... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 6 - On the Road Again
2010-09-12 21:09:40
Very introspective little scene today. I think that most books are at their best when it is two or more characters sort of bumping heads. One wants this thing, and the other wants another thing, and somehow they have to jostle by each other to get what they want. Today though, it was like the jostling came from two same-pole magnets. My two main characters didn't so much bump into each other as get driven apart from each other. That might be interesting on its own -- what happens when two people can't, for some reason, work out their differences together in a scene, even though that tension is there...? (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 5 - It's Late...
2010-09-12 01:33:10
Got a late start tonight, so I'll have to make this quick. First, on technicalities -- although the date will record this as September 12, I still consider this to be late night September 11, and therefore "today's" writing. Just in case you were wondering.
A bit of slow going, but I took my own advice and read some Fitzgerald today... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 4 - The Apartment Song
2010-09-10 23:29:58
Another bit of a struggle today, though again not affecting my output. Developed a bit more of the main character while the "second" main character spent most of the time sitting on a couch in an apartment, where today's scene took place.
I've been concentrating on ensuring there is plenty of dialogue -- that's one of the main points that Miriam Toews mentioned in her workshop. Too much narrative, not enough dialogue kills a story. However I'm suspecting that I am leaving out too much information by not narrating enough... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 3 - The Twilight Zone
2010-09-09 22:35:22
Getting a bit overwhelmed today. I had to save the novel writing for the evening -- in fact I'm getting quite busy with work over the last couple of days, so I imagine for the next week at least I'll have to switch to a night-time slot for the novel. That's going to be tough to do, I think. I used to love writing late at night, but since getting a "normal" life that needs me up and alert at around 7am, late night doesn't work so well for me. I'm not sure how it will affect my writing.
In fact, I'm not really sure how well the writing is going at all... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 2 - Flashes Before My Eyes
2010-09-08 16:03:27
Another great day, this time entering unknown territory. I'd played out the first scene (yesterday's writing) in my head a few times over the last couple of weeks, so I was ready to go out of the gates. Today though, I was creating from scratch as I went. Still, I managed to out-pace yesterday's output over the hour, something I was very surprised with... (Please click here to continue.)
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Day 1 Report
2010-09-07 14:45:12
There's something about starting a new project on the first day of school. I must admit, I was happy to get out of high school and into university -- I thrived on chaos rather than structure. (Today, I kind of need structure to get it all to come together. Chaos in some things is still my preference...) But there is a newness to the first day of school that I miss... (Please click here to continue.)
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Return of "Return of the Native" (or, The Adventure Begins!)
2010-09-06 21:42:33
Writers used to be the lighthouse keepers of the arts world: lonely horizon searchers given to madness and drink. To write a novel in the “old” days (like, say, the 1990’s) you had to hole up by yourself in some quiet corner of the world, coming up only for air and coffee before scurrying back to your desk. Writing is still largely a solitudinal act, but thanks the Internet, you can get instant feedback. For example, I know many of you are already madly scrolling down to the comment section to let me know that “solitudinal” is not a word... (Please click here to continue.)
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Graham Strong's WIP
Second Draft
27,709 of 100,000 words (27%) complete
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