When you cook a meal, it is the perfect representation of how will and action produce results. As I cook and try out new recipes, I’m learning what it’s like to be alive. I force myself out of disassociation by salting a broth and tasting how it makes the dish become brilliant with new dimensions. […]
A facet of a character’s personality can surface in several ways. Imagine a character who wants to avoid anything unpleasant. – such as only wanting to see perfection and not wanting to see the bad side of life, can be shown in their actions, from being fascinated by the outside to hating a new television […]
Every positive change in my life has required a loss. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, we live in a universe where all exchanges require reciprocal physics. Eating dinner is the act of alchemy – we use our bodies to transmute food for fuel and in that process, something is lost. “Life is […]
Yes, you know me, I have to write about “The dark side” of everything. Maybe one day I’ll just be able to write a nice post about my new tea-kettle and how I’m trying all different kinds of rooibos to find the perfect blend. Today is not that day Sometimes I think there should be […]
Horror has always been my favorite genre, and darkness my favorite flavor of human expression. When I was around 5 years old, my parents divorced. My mother was a Christian housewife, and my father was a horror cinephile and videogame programmer. While we were with my mother, my brother and I were forced to attend […]
My dad used to say nearly every time I saw him, “Do one thing a day that scares you.” Which, isn’t difficult for me, as I’m terrified of nearly everything. Getting out of bed can sometimes be a Sisyphean obstacle. Even if I hid inside the sheets all day my mind would find ways to […]
“Do not look around thee to discover other men’s ruling principles, but look straight to this, to what nature leads thee, both the universal nature through the things which happen to thee, and thy own nature through the acts which must be done by thee.” – Marcus Aurelius I was supposed to work on the […]
What kind of writer are you, and what do you have to change or improve to be where you want to be? Wherever you are in your writing career, self-reflection and the ability to change course is always a useful vehicle for improvement. I ran across some notes I’d written to myself a few years, […]
Empathy is one of humanity’s greatest assets. The reason that we’re able to enjoy stories is because we can easily slip into the thoughts, motivations, and lives of other humans. The origin of the word “empathy” comes from an ancient Greek word, empatheia, which means passion or physical affection. Our understanding of other people […]
1. I’m staring down my novel like it’s a feral dog, black and ragged and spitting in the corner. Maybe one day writing a long manuscript won’t feel like fighting an adversary. Maybe one day I’ll understand that all of this pain, confusion, and little spilled out drops of astonishing revelation that come with writing […]
