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I am one of those people who tends to bounce around between projects.  I usually read several books at once, switching between them frequently.  I tend to have several craft projects going at once, and my project bag currently has three different works in progress in it. The same thing happens with writing.  I currently have three projects that I'm actively working on, and I like to switch between them.  I find that it makes it a little easier for me to find inspiration when things get a little stale, and it keeps me from trudging through and writing things I'll end up throwing out. At the same time, it means that I'm something of a magpie, flitting between projects and not spending a ton of time on any of them.  I might hate to trudge through the rough patches, but it's what needs to be done in order to get something finished.  I've been experimenting with scheduling what I'm working on when, so I'm hoping that will help me focus and get things finishe...

I came across  this  flash fiction challenge this week, and decided to give it a shot.  I've been bouncing between projects a bit, so I thought it would be good to take a stab at something short and completely different.  I really liked the idea of randomizing the elements involved, because it gave me something I would never have chosen for myself.  Enjoy! I groaned as the light hit my closed eyes.  The previous night was a haze, as usual, but normally when I wake up it’s in the darkness of my apartment.  I started to sit up, and hit my head on something soft hanging above me.  It moved as I lay back down, rubbing my forehead, and a man’s face appeared upside down above me. I figured I must have been dreaming, so I closed my eyes again.  Then I opened them, realizing that I had seen that face before – it was hard to forget those blackened teeth and the gold hoop in his nose, or the scraggly blond beard that encompassed the bottom part ...

I'm very fortunate to have a writing group at work.  We meet every Monday during the lunch hour and, well, write.  There's also a fair amount of discussion, as we try to figure out the best ways to put something together, work through issues we're having, or just complain about how things are going or what our characters are doing. Today, one of the member mentioned that the book she's working on has morphed a bit from the original plan, due to the fact that her mother had been writing a novel and sending her chapters to read.  She'd noticed that, after reading the chapters of people dying of starvation, she had started writing about issues with hunger in her novel, which had previously not had any such issues.  It made me think of just how much we can be influenced by what we read, watch or hear, and if we should try to limit that kind of influence. I freely admit to being the type of person who is emotionally battered by books.  Every time I've read Mira G...

Maybe it's because I'm a huge fan of Terry Pratchett, but I have a hard time writing in chapters.  I've been using  Scrivener  for the last couple of years for my writing projects, and it has made me think more about writing in scenes, rather than just word-vomiting across the page.  While I've gotten better about determining when it's time to move from one scene to the next, I still find it difficult to figure out a chapter break. I spent a lot of time studying theater in high school and college, so it comes a little easier for me to think in terms of "scenes."  To me, a scene is defined as specific interaction or dialogue that moves to a defined purpose; ideally, it should also set up the purpose for the next scene, as well.  For example, in the book I'm working on now (I've moved back to my South American alt-history, as I leave Paranormal Investigations to simmer for a bit), a scene begins when my main character walks into a room full of wome...