Thoughts about writing, and the universe.
My husband is not a reader. While I wade up to my eyes through stories, he stays dry. We are different people, and that is fine, but I have wondered for years precisely why he doesn't love to read--to me it seems so natural. To me, it is necessary. He has told me sometimes, that... Continue Reading →
My sister is, as far as I can tell, a financial genius. I might, with a knowing air, explain what "bonds" are to a class when teaching The Great Gatsby, but in a conversation with my sister, I realize quickly that I speak really with the self-contentment of naiveté. I might know my "bull" and... Continue Reading →
In this third season of Star Trek Discovery, there is a lot to enjoy. A reimagined, post-Federation galaxy, the ever-imaginative CGI work, characters who are growing on me in this third adventure through space and time, and most importantly, Star Trek's beautifully hopeful, human, redemptive storytelling in an age when so many shows seem fixated... Continue Reading →
In the huge range of texts we write, distinguishing among them helps us know what we are writing, helps readers know what to expect, and helps us connect our pieces to readers who will enjoy them. Today we'll discuss three central ways texts are distinguished from one another: mode, genre, and form. These tools help... Continue Reading →
In the story I have been drafting these last weeks, I've hit up against real edges in my knowledge. I have dived on into research, poring over academic articles, newspapers, and of course Wikipedia. I have taken awful volumes down of notes. I have learned much, and I've asked questions. I am generally not a... Continue Reading →
This post is part two of two in a series on worldbuilding. To read part one, click here. Last week, we explored how to plan and develop a speculative world, how we must situate ourselves along a continuum between the real and the absurd, how we can tie into existing cultural concepts while still making... Continue Reading →
The worlds we construct inside our stories, especially in speculative genres, carry our readers to new possibilities, new ways of thinking about life and what is set and normal. Worldbuilding is one of the great excitements of the writing process, as our minds, omnipotent in the world of the story, trace out societies and structures... Continue Reading →
It's been a quiet week along the fjords. Students have been busy with a first-aid course and an immersive Model United Nations simulation. That left us teachers with a little time on our hands, and my husband and I took the opportunity for a few days' sojourn south to Bergen. We found ourselves in the... Continue Reading →
Near the end of my journey north, the bus drove onto a ferry crossing the Sogn Fjord. I disembarked and went to the boat's edge. Beneath me, the motor sounded deep and long, like a brilliant foghorn sweeping out over the water. Mountains jutted up on either side of the fjord, and swirls of gray... Continue Reading →
Words like trees 