Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

Tag Archives: writing


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Writing-relate insomnia – and remedies

Now, it was of course the Buddha who said expectations lead to suffering, and I just had a cold hard reminder of the truth of that statement.

sheep-2Now, true to Lawrence Block‘s observation that writers write all the time, I’m often in the habit of reviewing my current story, and planning further developments, in the time before I fall asleep.

It’s not anything particularly esoteric – it is not that I’m priming my subconscious to set my ideas straight during sleep or whatever.
Simply, it beats counting sheep. Continue reading →


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Writing female characters

anaisnin1Now the title of this post is misleading but bear with me – will get there.

The lady in the photo here on the right is Anais Nin – and she wrote erotica.
Sorry… Erotica, capital E – she wrote Literature.
Now I do not know if this is true or if it is an urban legend, but I was told (or I read somewhere) that the first erotic novel of Anais Nin she wrote as a teenager, with a medical handbook close by for reference.

And I like that, because it confirms one of my ideas about writing:

write about what you know, no matter how you acquired that knowledge.

So, what has that to do with female characters?
Let me explain. Continue reading →


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All the right rules

support-authorDo you guys read reviews on Amazon, or Goodreads?
I do – not only those for my books, but also those for other people’s books.
I try and write a few reviews, too – feedback is important, and it’s good to try and help spread the word about good books.

So, yesterday, I was waiting for dinner time browsing a few amazon reviews, and I chanced upon a thing that sort of scared me.

No, really, I was scared.

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The just-off-the-roller-coaster effect

treThere’s this folk tale, which is quite popular.
It tells of writing as a toilsome activity, built on pain and suffering.
Putting words on the page, we are told, is soul-draining and cruel.
And yet, ah, what can a poor artist do, when his muse, or daemon, or whatchamacallit, pushes them forward mercilessly?

And of course this is just so much rubbish, of the kind usually used by posers trying to get a free pass by playing the always popular part of the tormented artist.

On the other hand, there is a bad side to writing.
And I don’t mean the aching hands and the bad hours, the meager returns and the leery attitude of those that have “a serious job” like, for instance, gerbil farming. Continue reading →


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Magic is not the answer

OK, so I’m revising my new story, and I’m discussing some story writing essentials with my friends online.
It’s good having someone to compare notes with, to discuss the finer points of the writing art.
Like…

Q: How can I have a 90lbs woman kill a 75ft-high iron monster in a satisfactory, credible way?
A: Easy. You get her an Atlantean sword of power descending from the skies, sheathed in lightning. That’s the way you do it.

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And indeed, everything’s better with an Atlantean sword, only… Continue reading →


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Travel guides

A map indicating trading routes used around th...

A map indicating trading routes used around the 1st century CE centred on the Silk Road. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Everything finds its use, sooner or later.
And if one’s a writer, everything finds a writing-related use, sooner or later.
Back when I was planning my after-graduation Silk Road adventure that never happened, I got me a few maps and guidebooks.
These went to form the core of my still-growing collection of books on the subject.

As of now, I’m also sort of a Travel Guide collector – as Blondie used to sing, dreaming is free.

Now, almost fifteen years later, I dug out some of the stuff to document a story I’m writing.
Guidebooks are great for local detail – and one can even find out how things change through time by comparing guidebooks from different decades.

Continue reading →