Question: You seem to be interested in different kinds of writing. How does blogging fit into your mindset of being a writer? Answer: To be perfectly honest blogging feels a bit like cheating. I put thought into what I share on this site but nothing like what I would put into an essay or a … Continue reading Question of the Week #4
Question: What is the best piece of advice you have received? Answer: To me personally the best would be, “Don’t waste your time writing short stories. No one reads them.” Now, did I listen to this advice? Not for a very long time. I wouldn’t say that I regret the time I spent working on … Continue reading Question of the Week #3
Week two where I attempt to answer the big questions about what I do… Continue reading Question of the Week #2
It’s unfortunate that we don’t live in a time now where a polarizing film is a positive. Like in the ’70s, if you made a film like Straw Dogs, and half the people hate it and half the people think it’s a masterpiece, that’s viewed as cool. Now it’s not. Now if you don’t get unified … Continue reading Interview – Steven Soderbergh
I revise a great deal. I know when something is right because bells begin ringing and lights flash. I’m not at all sure what the “necessary equipment” is for a writer—it seems to vary greatly with the individual. Some writers are equipped with extrasensory perception. Some have a good ear, like O’Hara. Some are equipped … Continue reading Interview – E.B. White
You can’t learn to write in college. It’s a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do—and they don’t. They have prejudices. They may like Henry James, but what if you don’t want to write like Henry James? They may like John Irving, for instance, who’s the … Continue reading Interview – Ray Bradbury
When I began writing, I thought that everything should be defined by the writer. For example, to say “the moon” was strictly forbidden; that one had to find an adjective, an epithet for the moon. (Of course, I’m simplifying things. I know it because many times I have written “la luna,” but this is a … Continue reading Interview – Jorge Luis Borges
Working principles. A story, whether it is screenplay, novel or something I am whispering in your ear should satisfy one or both of the following conditions. They are listed in order of importance. 1) The story should entertain/titillate/engage the reader/listener/viewer. 2) The story should teach/inform/educate the reader/listener/viewer. I am sure I have stolen this almost directly from … Continue reading Two Rules for Storytelling
5-9-08 It is not surprising that when you come across a tidbit someone said or wrote that is in complete agreement with what you already think, that this discovery fills you with a small amount of joy. Over the past few days I have been rereading a series of speeches that Jorge Luis Borges made … Continue reading Epics
10-31-06 It is an odd thing to celebrate Halloween as an adult. I do not yet have a child to celebrate the holiday with. My wife is fiendishly imbued with the spirit of the day and her enthusiasm, regardless of our limited roles as candy dispensers, is certainly infectious. Each year our hopes soar as … Continue reading Halloween
John Ryan Sullivan 