Category Archives: creativity

If you could speak to anyone who has died…

“If you could speak to someone who’s dead, anyone at all, who would it be?” This is a question that a lot of kids ask each other at one point or another. I know when I was a very young teen, I briefly went through that phase. Often, it’s just a fun socialization game. Other …

June 5, 2011 – 4:50 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Nearing mid-point

As I’m working away on EMBER, I’m now approaching the mid-point of my novel. Characters are established and in place. Threats are out there, establishing their “threatiness.” Interesting stuff has been going down, but now, soon, the action is going to ramp up in a big way. This is where a novel can either rise …

February 28, 2011 – 2:31 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity, Kindle | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Short stories hard to come by amid novel-writing

I know some authors can juggle various projects of different lengths simultaneously, and I really admire their versatility. But I’m not one of them. When I’m in novel-writing mode, I can’t suddenly take time out to write a short story, no matter how good the opportunity, until I’ve completed the first draft of my novel. …

February 28, 2011 – 2:20 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Daydream now a reality … I have an Android phone

Some of my writer friends warn me about daydreaming, and I agree… but one of my daydreams just came true: I am now the proud owner of a brand new T-Mobile G2 with Google Android phone by HTC. It’s everything I’ve been wanting in an upgrade from a standard cell phone, and when T-Mobile put …

January 21, 2011 – 12:34 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Disclaimers?

There have been several discussion threads active over on Kindleboards lately about when it is appropriate to include various kinds of disclaimers in a book blurb. The types of disclaimers discussed has ranged from disclaimers for religious content or themes, all the way through disclaimers about violent or sexual content. I’m all for giving readers …

December 27, 2010 – 1:22 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Legible covers

One of the key ingredients to success in eBooks is to take a whole new approach to eBook cover design. One must focus beyond what looks good on hardcover or paperback. One must consider and reconsider cover design for the digital format. Book covers for eBooks can be made in color, but most eReaders display …

December 26, 2010 – 2:11 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity, Kindle | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Snow-in means potential productivity

Some people in the Twin Cities metro are cursing the winter weather keeping them home today; as a writer, it’s a blessing. A snow-in limits potential distractions and allows one to concentrate on getting some writing done. Time undistracted is a good thing whether one’s craft involved MS Word or cutting tools. And considering I …

December 11, 2010 – 8:30 PM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity | Tagged , | Comments (0)

A cold has a way of sapping NaNoWriMo momentum

I’ve been struggling with a nasty cold since Thursday and it’s really sapped my energy and drained all the momentum from me in my enthusiasm for completing my NaNoWriMo novel on time. EMBER is making good progress, but it’s starting to look doubtful that I’ll complete it in November. Not even 50,000 words of it. …

November 22, 2010 – 12:14 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity, Kindle, NaNoWriMo | Tagged , | Comments (0)

NaNoWriMo pressure

There are times when I think, “I could bang out 20K of Ember in a single day, if I could just find a single day to work on my novel uninterrupted.” And I probably could. But as I’m not single and living alone anymore, I have to feel a sense of accomplishment any time I …

November 18, 2010 – 12:12 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity | Tagged , | Comments (0)

The critics will be with you… always

One thing I’ve learned from browsing the KindleBoard Writer’s Cafe is that there will always be someone who’s a critic. No matter what you do, what you write, there will be someone who doesn’t like it. Accept that, and one can move on to separate the legit critiques from the out-and-out haters a bit more …

November 18, 2010 – 12:04 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Itching to get started

My NaNoWriMo project is ready to roll. I’ve done as much prep work on it as a person can do. Now it’s time to just wait for November 1 and start writing. I’m excited about the possibilities for EMBER; it’s an intriguing tale that should appeal to a broad audience. EMBER is the project for …

October 17, 2010 – 1:34 PM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Daydreaming about Outer Banks

Every once in a while, I like to daydream about how to treat myself if I reach certain goals. With my new interest in publishing on Kindle, some of those goals now seem reachable, and so the rewards more within my grasp. One daydream I’ve spent more and more time considering of late, because I’m …

September 26, 2010 – 10:53 PM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in creativity, Rants and asides | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)