Tag: anniversary

  • Post in Review – 2012

    I have to admit to something you might not know about me: I have a terrible memory for things I read and especially the things I write. It has to be exceptional for a detail to really stick out in my mind. Or I have to read it multiple times. So I’ve had to glance through my own posts to even remember what I’ve written.

    Of my own posts, my favorite is the character interview week from the second week of October — Everything In Its Place. It was fun to write from the point-of-view of my favorite minor characters, and to explore a post-novel scenario I hadn’t really given much thought.

    In fact, that was probably my favorite week to read. Check it out; it started October 8th with Jack’s Meeting With MitchWe’ve discussed before how writers are sort of insular — I’ll write most of my novels while making every effort to avoid divulging concrete details. That particular assignment revealed a lot about not just what sort of writers we are, but the sort of characters we write.

    Generically, any assignment that gets into the depth of our processes and systems is fun to read. I like seeing not just how we’re all different as writers, but how we’re also the same. Even though some of the other writers tackle genres that I don’t usually read, the process that get us all to the end product isn’t so different.

    Its been a fun year, doing this with a writing family that’s supportive, fun, and talented. Here’s to another year!

  • Confabulating is a Calling

    http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2012/03/rainbow-brain-map-science-aaas.jpg
    Somewhere in there are the stories waiting to be discovered and told. Some of them are beyond me right now and that’s pretty exciting.

    It’s been a year since we launched the Confabulator Cafe. The meetings we had leading up to this launch were fun and filled with lots of writers who were interested in contributing and some others who were looking for something different from the group. It took us a while to separate the Cafe from the writer’s group but that’s finally happening thanks in part to NaNoWriMo but that’s another story for others to tell.

    Over the first year of the Cafe we’ve covered a ton of topics and done a lot of writing. By my count I’ve written well over 45,000 words for the site on everything from the politics of writing and storytelling to flash fiction to my influences and so many other things. I’ve unknowingly echoes thoughts of my fellow Confabulators and been far afield from the majority, too. I’ve learned a great deal about how I write, why I write and even when I write best.

    As a storyteller, the monthly fiction assignments have been the most fun. I missed one assignment early on, but I’ve had the most fun writing every story. Being ‘forced’ to write short/flash fiction on a monthly basis has been sometimes nerve-wracking, but it’s always paid off. I’ve always gotten something I can be proud of despite the amount of sweat that’s gone into the writing.

    (more…)

  • Playing Favorites

    Love-CoffeeTo my surprise, this was one of the most difficult posts I’ve been asked to write here at the Café. Do I pick through my own posts and choose my favorite? Do I pour through the posts of my fellow Confabulators and decide — like some awards committee — who was the funniest, the most poignant, the wisest, or the most likely to succeed in the world of publishing?

    I tried, I really did. As it is, this is terribly late because of all the false starts and endless time spent scouring past entries from each writer.

    So, we’re going to avoid the question altogether. It was a great idea, but I don’t have it in me to pick and choose.

    Instead, I want to talk about how proud I am of this group. (more…)