Why are there 2 rules of writing? First of all, what are the two rules of writing? You must make mistakes. You must finish SOMETHING. Ok. So why are there only two? And why those two? It’s because those two rules are just enough to put the power in the hands of the writer. That’s…
Category: Writers on Writing
Different Values (Caturday Questions)
Big Cat, Middle Cat, and Little Cat have been roommates with Human-Mom for quite some time. How do they live together when their values are so different? Human mom’s idea of a good time involves tea and maybe waffles and maybe sitting down together (over Zoom) to do some writing. The cats’ idea of a…
Roe v Wade: News into Art (Caturday Questions)
We had a cartoon prepared for today. Then Roe v Wade got overturned and now it doesn’t feel right to do the same kind of piece we usually do. Still. Here’s the comic right at the top if your looking for a quick smile. CONTENT WARNING (if you continue below the comic) discussions of sexual…
Patience and the Writing Process
I have a reputation among my writing colleagues as someone with a lot of patience. Which is weird because I spend more time with myself than I do with anyone else [citation needed] and I don’t think I’m particularly patient with myself. It’s something I’m working on. And (again, ironically) one of the things that…
Weather, or The Pathetic Fallacy (Caturday Questions)
Middle Cat is writing a story, and Little Cat is looking over his shoulder making unhelpful suggestions. “You’re tempted, aren’t you?” yowls Little Cat. “You’re tempted to make the weather reflect the mood of the story. To make the sad moments take place in the rain and the joyous moments take place in full sunlight….
My Grandfather’s Good Hand
Last night somewhere dark hung with picturesMy grandfather was walking behind me whenHe fellBecause he had died some months before; I turned around to see:Frightful wounds were opening on his bodyI reached for his hand to help him upHe extended the good hand The good hand that had always worked for twoWhose grip, as he…
Decisions, Decisions (Caturday Questions)
Writers have a saying: “Kill your darlings.” But sometimes Little Cat doesn’t like to kill his darlings. Sometimes he likes to let them think they’ve escaped… Then trap them by putting his paw on their tails. THEN kill them. And then, finally, put them on Human-Mom’s knee while she’s trying to read a book. This…
Pride on the Calendar! (Caturday Questions)
Part of what brings us together as humans is that we celebrate anniversaries. Cats, of course, have no patience for keeping a calendar. To this day, Big Cat has no idea why every year on June first (Big Cat does NOT know that it’s June first) his Human-Mom serves up a big platter of rainbow…
Mysteries (Caturday Questions)
It was just one of those mysteries. A classic whodunit. Human-Mom emerged from the bedroom to find what appeared to be a cat-turd on the floor. She rounded up the usual suspects. But who could have been responsible? Well, it depends what kind of mystery you’re writing. Big Cat, Little Cat We were the Mysteries…
“Where do you Get your Ideas?”
If you listen to interviews of authors, one of the questions you’ll hear most often is: “Where do you get your ideas?” I hear a plaintive note in this question. It is asked so often. Sometimes with reference to a specific work or series (like with George R. R. Martin and A Song of Ice…
Twist Endings (Caturday Questions)
Little Cat has been seeing versions of this joke all over the internet these days. And why not? It’s a classic. It’s the basis for a lot of Emo Phillips’s material. And of course, twist endings are having their day in the sun in Marvel movies, horror and thriller films… And was it only a…