Monthly Archives: August 2008

Inspired by Harris

Sometimes it’s hard to know what the best concept is going to be for a solid novel. Along with my wife, I’ve recently discovered Charlaine Harris as an author and her story in an intriguing one. Harris got into print and had early success with two mystery series, Aurora Teagarden and Lilly Bard. Aurora Teagarden …

August 17, 2008 – 10:25 PM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in book deals | Tagged , | Comments (0)

One of the nice things…

One of the nice things about writing is that it’s largely unaffected by trendiness. I’m not talking about story styles or the popularity of genres. I’m talking about accessories and tools. I mean, I use a fairly standard Acer Aspire and MS Office 2007, and while other folks may prefer an earlier version of Word, …

August 12, 2008 – 5:21 PM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in writing | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Writing without references handy

Writing is hard enough with you have everything you need handy; it’s a lot harder when you’re missing something. Today, I was hoping to finish off a lesson I was writing for a class at my church, but I didn’t have any of my reference materials handy. Even though I only have a couple paragraphs …

August 12, 2008 – 5:15 PM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in writing | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Sometimes your mind just goes blank

Sometimes your mind just goes blank. I’m not talking about the oh-so-typical writer’s block. That’s common and there are many strategies to overcome it. I’m not talking about not having a story in mind, or lacking a wellspring of ideas. Neither am I talking about not knowing what your next thing to write might be. …

August 11, 2008 – 9:01 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Where do you get your ideas?

The ideas and concepts for stories that writers come up with are as mysterious to non-writers as the pyramids are to non-Egyptians. The most common question writers are posed with is, “Where do you get your ideas?” Writer Lawrence Block’s knee-jerk response is usually a favorite: “At a warehouse in New Jersey.” Right next to, …

August 11, 2008 – 8:49 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity | Tagged , | Comments (0)