Voices of the Ribbons©.

 W-Two Worlds Apart Image from Netflix How one K-drama validated my entire perspective as a writer. I t is easy to think, as a writer, that we are somehow Gods, holding the Universe of our imagined worlds in our creative hands. This is a dangerous belief for we are not gods, but care-takers.  I once heard an author-tuber say something I have never forgotten and, equally, have never forgiven. Now, don't get me wrong, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for this particular author-tuber, though I freely admit I have no specific desire to read her work. I mean her no disrespect and she's certainly free to have her own opinion. That doesn't mean I can't vehemently disagree with what she said. The offending comment?   They're only characters, people! They're not real and they do what YOU tell them to so get over yourselves. Heresy! I don't know about other authors but, to me, my characters are not simply cardboard cutouts on a storyboard. They're rea

 The Problem with DID Dealing with Multiple Opinions in the Same Mind For those not automatically in the know, DID is the acronym for Dissociative Identity Disorder and, since this isn't a treatise on the condition, if you wish more specific insight, please feel free to look it up.  In its simplest nutshell, DID refers to having multiple identities residing within one mind, and, most often, those identities are independent of one another and rarely communicate between themselves. This can lead to complications. Many  complications, not least of which occur when they have differing and oftentimes completely opposing opinions on things.  I  have DID and, to date, somewhere around seven separate personas reside in my mind. I liken it to having a boardroom meeting taking place between my ears. A boardroom meeting before it's been called to order, when everybody is talking at once without any specific agenda. It can get very noisy and very confusing. The reason I was inspired to wri

The Ultimate Guide to Productivity Just kidding. E very man, his wife, and his dog who's ever aspired to be a writer seems to have their two pennies' worth to say on the subject of writing. Some of it is great, and I've learned far more than I ever thought I needed to. Some of it is mediocre at best and I can only think the writers themselves could do with a little more research, study, and practice. And some of it should never have been committed to the page, let alone inflicted upon an unsuspecting world. Yes, this is a little rant. Blame it on the weather (cold), frustration (things aren't currently going quite according to plan), or even on one of the alters (always entirely possible). You don't have to read it or comment on it, or do. It's up to you. I'm simply venting that there are times when I'm drawn in by a title that gives the impression I might learn something of genuine value and, by the time I've reached the conclusion of whatever I'

 The Little Eden Diaries (OR Chronicles of an Author come Accidental Guinea Pig Farmer) Making writing a daily habit. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step  and it doesn't matter what that journey actually represents, whether it be a literal trip to someplace or learning a new skill or doing the day's chores or, given I'm a writer (when I can get my sh*t together), writing a novel or a blog or even a post on SM. The only damn way stuff is gunna get done, is to get on and get it done! If necessary: One. Step. At. A. Time. Or one word at a time. Because one word today and tomorrow and the next day is already three words that weren't there yesterday and one word generally leads to another word and another and another until you have a sentence, a paragraph,, a page, a chapter, and A NOVEL! Fancy that. 🙄 I'm a procrastinator, a super-specific procrastinator because, oddly enough, I procrastinate most often about the one thing I actually enjoy the most

 Writing as Therapy "I shall eviscerate you in fiction" Chaucer; A Knight's Tale One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies (because Paul Bettany's 'Chaucer' was legendary) and today, today when I finally feel I have my life back, this quote resonates even more powerfully. I'm ready to take control again. I'm ready to begin laying the past to rest, to stop permitting myself to walk naked,  and stop giving in to the needs of others before my own. " You need to be selfish in order to be selfless,"  somebody recently said to me, and this is true. "A man who can't swim can't save a drowning man."    And sometimes, it takes more courage to say no  than to say yes . Meanwhile, what does this have to do with writing and, more specifically, Chaucer's quote? Fair question. I've always been a believer in ' discretion being the better part of valor' . Instead of fighting or being reduced to pointless count

 What to say if not 'Said'? Has the verb 'said' become obsolete? Recently, someone (on Twitter?) raised the question: "Does anybody else hate the word 'said' as much as I do?" which I took to imply that this particular person has a personal dislike of the verb in question. I asked for enlightenment, genuinely curious as to why this might be the case, but have yet to receive a  response. It did, however, raise a valid question. Is the word 'said' genuinely unnecessary or obsolete? There is a great deal of writing advice in circulation advising against over-use of this word in dialogue. But I argue that 'said', in the same way as any other word, has its place if used in the right way and in the right places. It's all about context. To my way of thinking, 'said' is a neutral speech tag. It merely defines 'who' spoke without assigning emphasis to the manner in which the content was spoken.  As an example, take the dialog