Category Archives: late night writing

Finally making progress again

I’m finally making progress again on my mystery novel, thanks in no small part to having a lighter load on Torah commentaries. I’m writing new pages of copy several times a week. That’s progress, and I’m thankful for it. I’m glad it happened before I needed to start searching for the best wrinkle cream out …

November 2, 2009 – 4:53 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Writing where it’s warm

Sometimes I daydream about living in some exotic locale, like Oahu. After Minnesota has been hit twice with early October snow, I’m thinking about it now more than ever. Of course, warm weather has its downsides, such as the distractions of getting out on the beach and enjoying the tropical locale. But really, what could …

October 16, 2009 – 2:16 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Dredging up words

Sometimes writing is a joy, sometimes it’s a task, and sometimes it’s a job. No matter which it feels like, though, the task is always the same: come up with words to describe stuff, tell a story, or relay some information. So whether its diet pill reviews or the great novel you’ve been slaving over, …

August 24, 2009 – 4:05 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Knowing your characters better than your spouse

Sometimes it feels like you almost have to know your characters better than you know your spouse, to be a successful writer. While I love my wife, I can’t say I know all her habits backward and forward. That isn’t essential in a marriage; but to write a novel, you have to know if your …

May 18, 2009 – 2:43 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Long nights, no writing time

Lately I’ve been putting in a lot of long nights but not getting any creative writing done, even though the engines are turning up in the ol’ creative noggin. It’s frustrating that I’ve spent more time pondering the best acne treatment lately than I have a character’s motivation for murder despite being innocent. So I …

May 1, 2009 – 12:44 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged , | Comments (0)

No overnight in Dallas yet…

I have been in or traveled through Dallas, TX, three times now and have not yet experienced a stay in any Dallas Texas hotels. This is more by circumstance than design. Once I spent a few hours there, including some time at the Sixth Floor Museum, but kept on traveling. Another time I only drove …

April 14, 2009 – 11:26 PM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged | Comments (0)

Getting deals on “data insurance”

Moving forward, the best way for me to make sure I never lose 80 pages of a manuscript again will be for me to back up my data religiously. Of course, I knew this before I lost so much of my novel, but I just never followed through. No longer. There are plenty of ways …

February 19, 2009 – 12:31 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing, Rants and asides, writing | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Pressing on

After you get your first rejection on a new project, it’s tempting to sulk a bit; but that’s not how one becomes a successful novelist. You have to burn those feelings away like fat exposed to a healthy dose of Leptovox, and move on. The best cure is to just set of goal to write …

December 15, 2008 – 2:49 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

45 pages in about 24 hours

I wrote 45 pages in about 24 hours late last week. Unfortunately, that work wasn’t on my novel. Instead, I stoked my creative fire pits to blazing on behalf of my sermon-writing. These efforts including my first full-length sermon, as well as a Torah commentary, and while this sort of writing can go quite a …

November 3, 2008 – 1:35 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Bad writing habits … that work

One doesn’t need a Sony Vaio to be a great writer, although it helps if you like to write while away from home. Personally, I have far worse writing habits. Most of my writing is producing laying on my stomach on the carpeted floor of my bedroom, neck craned up at an uncomfortable angle to …

October 20, 2008 – 2:08 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged , | Comments (0)

The main fear

The main fear I’m holding in terms of my mother’s pending death is not so much the death itself, painful as that will be. No, the main fear is the ongoing absence of her from my life. It may sound terrible, but I’ve always had an easier time talking to my mom than my dad. …

July 28, 2008 – 2:14 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Letting go of the small things

Pride comes before the fall. And that doesn’t mean before autumn. I’ve been thinking some today about how important it is not to let the little things bother you. It’s a hard skill to employ. After all, it’s usually the little things that trip us up. It’s rarely the major things that cause fights or …

July 28, 2008 – 2:07 AM | By Craig Hansen | Posted in late night writing | Tagged , | Comments (0)