by Jan Bear | Aug 17, 2017 | Writing
At the beginning of the 1984 movie, Romancing the Stone, we find romance author Joan Wilder, played by Kathleen Turner, finishing her new novel. As the heroine and hero ride off into the sunset, the camera turns to Joan behind her typewriter, with her face...
by Jan Bear | May 20, 2016 | Writing
In some stories (my own included, sadly), the villain moves through the plot like a chess piece in a rigged game. These stories may have action, but they lack depth.In a great story, the hero and the villain engage in a kind of dance, each illuminating the other’s...
by Jan Bear | Aug 9, 2014 | Writing
A week at the beach has been a good time for learning to create a zone for writing. In the psychological fantasy I’m working on, I find that the sound track is the David Lynch station on Pandora. Why David Lynch? What attracted me most to Twin Peaks was not the...
by Jan Bear | May 26, 2014 | Writing
In fiction, stakes are always about the end of the world. I’ve been resistant to that because I think oncoming asteroids and alien invasions are boring (even though I like science fiction). But that’s because I’ve defined the “end of the world” too narrowly. The end...
by Jan Bear | Nov 25, 2003 | Uncategorized, Writing
On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, 2003, it’s Regina Carter on iTunes tonight, and Mocha is off elsewhere. But I had intended to write at least every day or two and now it’s been almost two weeks. So, Jan, where’ve you been all this time? Thanks for...