Category: The Craft
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The Steampunk Aesthetic
Earlier this month, I was a panelist at the Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention in Tucson, Arizona. During the convention, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel with K.W. Jeter, the man who coined the word “steampunk” in a 1987 letter to Locus Magazine. In the letter, he spoke about fantasies set in…
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Did I Write That?
Let’s talk about the subconscious mind and its effects on writing fiction. I’ve studied and practiced the art of fiction writing for a short time: four years, two months, and four days (4 to 8 hours per day, most days.) That’s a lot of hours. About two years ago I phoned my ‘favourite reader’, and…
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Suspending Death
Only two of my grandparents were alive at my birth and both of them had passed away by the time I was eight years old. My dad suffered a heart attack and died when I was just thirteen. I’d give anything to have more time with any of them. Because of this, it’s perhaps no…
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Writing a good twist.
If you enjoy reading a tale with a good twist, as much as I do, you’ve probably wondered how the writer did it. To me, a good twist changes the story, and I believe readers love it when you do that. Is it possible to “engineer” this kind of a twist repeatably? Maybe it is.…
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A Woman’s Place…
Allow me to update an old proverb for the twenty-first century: A woman’s place is in a horror story. And I suppose it always has been. Back in the beginning, in the days of writers like Poe, Stoker, and their contemporaries, her function was either to die to demonstrate the awful nature of the beast,…
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FEAR ~ My First Day of Teaching
What is fear? What does it mean to be brave, to show courage? Where is the actual courage and bravery if one is not afraid? According to a famous John Wayne quote, “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” My favorite quote on this subject is from Eddie Rickenbacker (WW-1, Ace Pilot) “Courage…
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Tim Sorrensen on Writing Part 2
Welcome back. The next step I take is to cut and paste the story parts in order. At this stage you may notice we have some names. Jack J. Novak, Jules Sinclair, and Isabel Novak. I chose these on the fly as I wrote. Note the syllable ratios. Jack J. Novak=1:1:2. Jules Sinclair=1:2. Isabel Novak=3:2.…
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Tim Sorrensen on Writing
Jack Tyler has asked me to talk to you about writing, about how I construct my short stories, about the nuts and bolts of the craft I love so much. At first, I refused. After all, I’m the new kid on the block. I’m a student not a teacher. Who would even listen, right? Then…
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How Not to Write a Horror Story
This is my first blog. What exactly do I mean by that statement? Is this my first blog on this new site created by my friend and fellow writer, Jack Tyler. No, I mean literally; this is the first blog I have ever written. The original thread that started this blog was on the theme…
Threads that Bind 