(Following is the the text of the talk I was going to give at Colorado Gold last Friday night had I not been sick with COVID. Thanks to all the members of RMFW for the tremendous support and for Writer of the Year title again. It means so much.) I would not be here without…
When I think back to my early days around Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, about twenty years ago, I remember a sound: the thumpity-bump of dragging a cooler from my car across parking lots at various Metro Denver libraries as I brought refreshments and snacks for the monthly workshops. Arvada. Lakewood. Aurora. Denver. Wherever. I had…
I judged a few entries this year for the Colorado Gold Literary Awards. I have one takeaway. It’s this: Chill with the punctuation. Too much makes readers tired. Well, makes me tired. It’s also unappealing on the page. It looks cluttered. Our brains are already busy putting your words into images in our heads. Don’t…
I realized last month, when contemplating the fact that 2003 marks RMFW’s 40th anniversary, that I’ve been writing for 40 years. Summer of 1983. I switched jobs. I went from newspaper reporter to working as a television producer for a PBS news show. I started flying around the country working on stories. And, during all…
One Editing tip of the day: When you write a 100,000-word novel you have made 100,000 choices. Think about it! How many of those choices were active choices. And how many of those were easy, lazy choices? Unconscious choices? Could you rewrite one of your novels and use 100,000 completely different words and tell the…