Sentential Links

Links!

:: “My Saturday morning writer’s advice for writers: try not to get hung up on writers’ advice for writers.” (I couldn’t agree more.)

:: That is why I always tell authors and writers to physically draw their action scenes. (But then, this is also pretty useful, in terms of a specific technique. I don’t totally do this, but I tend to slow down a lot when I’m writing action, because I have to keep track of it all in my mind. I think I’ll start doing this!)

:: Brains are interesting. Fascinating, in fact. Sometimes I think I should have been either a neuroscientist or a psychiatrist but, with the former I might have to dissect actual brains and with the latter I would have to deal with annoying, messed up people all the time, which is not one of my talents. (You see why I never decided what I want to be when I grow up?) (Dissecting? I’m there!)

:: Note that his bed is asbestos. In another panel, we see his bedspread, carpet and wallpaper are asbestos, and his furniture has been chemically treated to be fireproof. So, clearly, Johnny Storm has some pretty bad cancer.

:: We as writers are especially susceptible to anxiety because what we function through, how we move through life, is made up of our feelings and parading our vulnerabilities before the world. In a world that increasingly advises us to Harden Up and Be Tough, and where vulnerability is seen as weakness to be preyed upon and exploited, being a writer is like throwing oneself to the lions. (“You need a thick skin!” we’re always told. I don’t have one. Sorry, never have. What I do have is pigheaded determination. Oh yes, that I’ve got. Tons of, actually.)

:: I freely admit to being charmed by the little drama in today’s Family Circus. (Heavens, this is awesome!)

More next week! And I start posting answers to Ask Me Anything! questions later today, but go ahead and still ask if you want!