Writer/Reader/Listener Blog

            You have had this experience: the novel you are reading throws a ton of invented names at you like a blizzard, makes up words for common items, has some variation of “coffee&rd…

Yes, but not in the way you think. Although some ‘AI Doomers’ (like Elon Musk, Geoffrey Hinton, also known as Google’s "Godfather of AI," and other misguided technologists and futurists) predict the demise of mankind will be cause…

By Gil Schmidt   Because if we don’t write, we don’t feel complete. Because writing gives us satisfaction like nothing else does. Because writing is a constant challenge and meeting it is our form of defiance. Because calling o…

As the writer of a story, you have all the details in your head. You have this intricate picture in your mind and your primary task is to figure out which words to use to paint that picture in the imagination of your readers. But there’s the p…

Empathy. Politeness. Ethics. Compassion. All HUMAN emotions and precepts. Enter Siri, Alexa, Google Voice, Cortana, Echo and the new plethora of machine generated voice assistants. As “learning” machine generated assistants become more …

How to Effectively Take Criticism About Your Writing Without Turning Around and Making the Idiot Who Dared Savage Your Precious Prose the Murder Victim of a Rabid Two-Faced Alien with Mommy Issues in Your Great American Science Fiction Trilogy &nbs…

Let’s talk a bit about immersion. In your story, the purpose of immersion is to give your readers a feel for what’s actually going on, regardless of whether words are spoken. There are two schools of thought on what immersion actually …

Ready, Fire, Aim!         A boon (first time I’ve used that word) to new writers, those without a quality writing partner or two, is the Critique Circle, a rough and ready proving ground for works in pr…

          Golfers avoid saying “shank”. During a no-hitter, the team whose pitcher is flirting with history refuses to acknowledge what is happening. And among writers, people who will often talk about anyth…

            I can hear one of you saying: “But there are more than five science fiction books worth reading twice!” I understand that, Reader Who States the Obvious to Irk Me Into Wh…