Tomorrow, I’m going to have my first Japanese language lesson. Why? Because I’ve received an Asialink writing residency. Next year, I’ll be at Aichi Shukutoku University in Nagoya, Japan for 3-4 months. I’ll be researching various Japanese popular cultural interests to broaden my use of pop culture in my fiction and also to inform...
Read MoreA sneak preview
I have 2544 decent words so far for what is the second piece of my book. These words have come extremely slowly, especially in the last few days. For the last 2 days, I’ve been writing like the Australian Cricket team has been fielding – i.e. with little in the way of breakthroughs. I’ve never spent so much time working on the same...
Read MoreWhere do you get names for your characters from?
Fiction writers: where do you get names for your characters from? These days, I’m getting most of my character names from here.
Read MoreMaking associations
My method of composing fiction is very associative in nature. It’s how I’m able to integrate such seemingly remote concerns in my work – rock stars, gigantism and embodiment; Pinocchio, the Muppets, fictitiousness… and, more recently, robots, art theory and the attributes of God. Due to the associative nature of my process, I find...
Read MoreFunny but not
I just wrote two funny sentences for my current story. Which is funny, given how unfunny – in fact, downright agonising – it has been trying to write this story. This isn’t really anything new – it seems to be how I compose, really. But the unfunniness has really been brought out by this particular...
Read MoreHot damn
I’ve been working on the same damn page all day. But I’m writing and the words are more or less working and I’m even clearing up a few problems that have been perplexing me for most of this year. So, for all of these reasons, I am so damn...
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