Andrew M. Friday

Category: my novel’s progress

  • Writing at the cafe

    I’ve had some of my best writing sessions at a coffee shop, but I’ll be honest: sometimes I just hang out and surf the web. I’m procrastinating. I’m telling myself I’m waiting for inspiration but I confess I’ve gotten no writing done at some so-called writing sessions. Here’s an article that describes it from the…

  • When I Used to Go Bookcrossing

    Ten years ago this month, I joined a website club called Book Crossing. The idea behind this website: release books into the wild. Here’s how it’s done. Register a book on the website. Write the registration number and “http://www.bookcrossing.com” on the inside cover of the book. Leave it someone where someone can pick it up.…

  • Hero’s Journey

    I found this helpful for writing fiction: The Hero’s Journey. “The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development.  It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves…

  • I write like . . .

    I don’t take I Write Like  too seriously. This website–which analyses a person’s writing style and then matches it to a famous author–hangs out with all those websites in which a person can take a test to see if he is a narcissist or whether or not his physical symptoms indicate he has leprosy or…

  • I accidentally wrote a Halloween children’s book endorsing drug abuse and/or alcohol abuse. Oops.

    Back in the day I use to make a little extra money writing children’s books. The publishing company printed these books–cheaply printed–by the millions. That is not hyperbole. They could be found in stores like K-mart, Target, Walmart and the like. I would always go to the children’s book section, and, if my books were…

  • Consider Iain Banks

    A few days ago, Iain Banks, one of my favorite authors, passed away. This Scottish writer crafted novels under two names:” Iain Banks” for mainline fiction, and” Iain M. Banks” for science fiction. I’ve read him under both genres. Many consider him a master of “space opera” which is a sub-category of science fiction. I…

  • Writing blog roundup

    Some entries from blogs on writing that I’ve read lately: Does it matter where a writer lives: a big city or the countryside; a two-story house or a basement; a culturally diverse or monotonous neighborhood? Read more. Why Keeping a Journal is so Important for Writers and all Creative Types. Read more. The Art of Character:…

  • The girlfriend of my protagonist is boring. Hate her.

    No, I don’t really hate her. She has the potential to be an interesting character for my novel–for now I’m calling it The Deity Run–but it’s my fault she’s boring with an uppercase B. In the first draft I wrote during National Novel Writing Month, I created a girlfriend for my protagonist, Ferdinand Clark. Her…

  • How does the Snowflake Method work?

    Now if you are not a math whiz, don’t let this scare you: The Snowflake Method of writing a novel follows the same idea of a fractal design that starts off small and builds up. It’s easier to understand if you see this visual. A snowflake is a fractal design and that is the whole…