So the retreat to the Mojave Desert paid off, and I've now officially completed the first draft of my novel-in-progress. I started outlining the story this summer, and it has evolved significantly from first doodles to 110,000-word draft. As a published author and professional writer, I know the most important step is yet to come: …
Continue reading Three Lessons I Learned While Writing a Novel First Draft
NOTE: An update on this piece can be found at its conclusion. I'm hardly the first to go on this rant, but there appears to be no rhyme nor reason to fiction genre classifications. Things were so much more straightforward when I was writing my travel memoir. It fell under "biographies and memoirs," and the …
"Writing a novel is like having a baby," writes National Book Award finalist Kim Addonizio in Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life. I have never personally given birth, but I am a father of two. With both pregnancies my wife and I refrained for some time before sharing the news with others. There's that …
Continue reading Meet 3 Impressive Fiction Writers Inspiring Me to Return to Writing
I'm back! It's been a bit more than three years since I last posted to The Artist's Road. I launched the blog in 2010 to chart a path that I had set for myself to return to an art-committed life. Over the next five years I earned an MFA, won a few creative writing awards, …
The Artist's Road 