not so odds & ends

Great post on how different writers write – routine or lack of it, setting deadlines, using page count vs. word count. I use word count, setting a rough goal (for the next novel, it will likely be in the 90,000 range) and then daily and weekly targets. It helps.

What do Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O’Connor have in common? Read all of The Brutality of Grace:

Throughout much of her life, Flannery O’Connor struggled against what she perceived as dangerous and excessive sentimentality among her readers, defending her stories against accusations of violence, brutality, and “gothic grotesqueness.” For her, violence was an essential part of her message, for “to expect too much is to have a sentimental view of life and this is a softness that ends in bitterness.” Responding to her critics, O’Connor made an important point: “Our age not only does not have a very sharp eye for the almost imperceptible intrusions of grace, it no longer has much feeling for the nature of the violences which precede and follow them.”

Yuvi Zalkow discusses using the computer as a creative tool for writing. I’m fine with MS Word, but if you want something simpler along with other suggestions, check out what he has to say.

30-Word Story Contest: SmokeLong Quarterly if you’re feeling overwhelmed, confine yourself to a 30 word story and enter

The rules:

•Thirty words exactly—no less, no more.
•You MUST have a title for your story, though the title does not count toward the word count.
•You can submit up to three stories, but please submit each story SEPARATELY.
•No entry fee.
•Submissions open from November 1 to November 30.

Enjoy your writing.