Writing Short Stories to Push You Toward Novels

Posted on February 17, 2012 by

I really love to write, but I often get into a rut — one that lasts for months and sometimes even longer. What happens is that I get an idea for a novel and I have some idea of how I want it to work out and then I sit in front of the keyboard, white screen staring me in the face. I really want to start the novel but I am not sure how to start it so I just keep staring at the screen until I decide to do something completely different and then move on to something else. This staring procedure happens again and again until I give up on the novel entirely. I then get another idea for a novel and the problem starts up again — this is why I have only managed to write exactly one book in this lifetime but I have ideas for many more.

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Imprinted Experiences: How to Know a Good Apartment Neighbor

Posted on February 10, 2012 by

If you’re big into City Living in the urban core, you likely have imprinted experiences that can foretell precisely what will happen before it happens when it comes to those living around you.  Today, I will share with you my secret for instantly knowing if your new neighbor is a good person or not — and you don’t have to meet them, or speak to them, to find out.  Their one behavior will tell you everything.

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Posted in Humanity | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Apple iBooks Author Review

Posted on January 25, 2012 by

When it comes to creative software, from my perspective, there are two important factors — the most important factors, really. They are ease of use and power — interdependent in that creative software can be good with one but not the other, yet not nearly as good when both are present. For example, Microsoft Paint is an easy to use program but all but the most skilled artists would find it difficult to make something really beautiful with it. Final Cut is one of the most powerful pieces of software for editing video but I have found it extremely difficult to do even the most simple task.

I am happy to say that I have found iBooks Author to be a perfect combination of ease of use and power. I have only had it since Sunday morning and I am already blown away by what I have been able to make with it. It is quite clear that Apple wants people to start making fun and educational iBooks right out of the box, excuse the antiquated expression.

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Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Steve Jobs Replies from the Grave: From iBoles to iPad to iAuthor

Posted on January 19, 2012 by

When the iPad was originally introduced, I was already an Apple fanboi with iBoles and iJanna and a couple of Apple books in the pipeline — and I was especially interested in the iPad as a book publication vehicle.  At that time, Steve Jobs was still alive and randomly replying to email inquiries, and on March 23, 2010 at 8:29pm, I decided to take my shot with Jobs and I emailed him my iPad Book Publishing Query:

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Posted in Books | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Yes, You Can End a Sentence with a Preposition: Appropriate Grammar is Not Absolute

Posted on January 13, 2012 by

I recently had a wonderful conversation with my mentor Howard Stein — also my Columbia University MFA Playwriting Chair and head of the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies, and now lifelong friend — concerning the appropriateness of ending an English sentence with a preposition.

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Reading Character Voices in Your Head

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

When I lived in Seattle, I once attended a reading of the Megillas Esther, the ancient story of the triumph of the Jewish people over the wicked Haman who intended to wipe them out from the face of the earth, that really was special because of the way that the reader went through the story. When he would read the lines of dialogue as spoken by people in the story, he would read them in their voices — Queen Esther in one way, the vicious Haman in his own nasty voice. I appreciated it quite a bit because I would often do the same thing when reading it to myself — and when reading most other fiction, for that matter. Even some nonfiction — I tend to hear the voice of David Sedaris when I am reading his autobiographical pieces.

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Posted in Books | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Staring Down the SOPA Threat from the Public Square

Posted on December 29, 2011 by

SOPA is one of those sudsy scandals that don’t easily wipe off in the public wash.  Once you claim you’re all-in on SOPA, it’s difficult to recant and back out and say you didn’t mean it, and GoDaddy is learning that sticky lesson in heated spades:

GoDaddy was one of the few tech firms to back SOPA but it took its name off the public list of supporters following pressure by big web names and many angry customers.

Wikipedia said it would move its domains away from GoDaddy, as did the Cheezburger Network, owner of Lolcats, and image hosting firm Imgur.

In a statement explaining its change of heart, GoDaddy boss Warren Adelman said: “Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why GoDaddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation – but we can clearly do better.”

In an interview with tech news site Gizmodo, Mr Adelman took a neutral stance on SOPA but said the company might support it if there were a consensus among net firms on its wording.

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Posted in Business | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments