tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.comments2023-04-12T06:20:01.812-04:00 MEREDITH MORGENSTERNMeredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08508302421134951238noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-24669144696173519122022-05-22T20:48:34.533-04:002022-05-22T20:48:34.533-04:00This is greatThis is greatMadisonhttps://www.madisonharvey.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-38763683655612365772017-03-22T08:49:56.498-04:002017-03-22T08:49:56.498-04:00I'm a big fan of modifiers - well, I like beau...I'm a big fan of modifiers - well, I like beautiful, descriptive writing. I sort of think that the writing industry has taken the "minimum number of words" thing too far, out of desire to prevent overwriting and keep the fiction assembly line going: there's plenty of room in good writing for a lot of words. Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17217691308605212726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-12531514855003688892017-02-28T15:29:31.492-05:002017-02-28T15:29:31.492-05:00We love Pandemic! So far we've played about si...We love Pandemic! So far we've played about six games, and have about a 50% survival rate, which seems pretty good. We like the usual types of games: Settlers of Cataan, Shadows over Camelot is fun, City of Horror. I've been wanting to learn Betrayal at House on the Hill for a while (we have it) but haven't gotten a chance (maybe this month...). I reached a certain point where I was like "I'm tired of not playing games!" Of course, after 30 years off I started playing D&D again, so there's that :-)<br /><br />Anytime y'all come to Chicago ;-PStevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17217691308605212726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-41078144977687703192017-02-28T14:22:40.623-05:002017-02-28T14:22:40.623-05:00Haven't read it, but I'll check it out. :-...Haven't read it, but I'll check it out. :-)<br /><br />*I* miss your blogs.<br /><br />If you're ever in northern NJ, we'll have to have a game night! What do you like to play? A couple of our friends out here are, like, super hardcore board gamers and have introduced us to Betrayal at Hill House (which I love) and Pandemic.Meredithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08508302421134951238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-64466166539676448272017-02-28T14:16:30.088-05:002017-02-28T14:16:30.088-05:00Have you ever read Dandelion Wine?
Yeah, the blog...Have you ever read Dandelion Wine?<br /><br />Yeah, the blogging - mine has sort of sat there for around a year, after a burst of Norse-inspired enthusiasm. Luckily, *cough* nobody was that upset when I stopped, so I've got that going for me!<br /><br />We recently started (well, I guess more than a year, now) a monthly game night thing. It's fantastic. My wife knows that basically all I need socially to look forward to is a little gaming. Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17217691308605212726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-70472187774850399322015-06-04T11:57:39.305-04:002015-06-04T11:57:39.305-04:00Looks pretty fun - I look forward to more Terror T...Looks pretty fun - I look forward to more Terror Tuesday! Blogging... what a complex and weird endeavor it is. I still feel like I'm figuring it out - probably I think about it too much :-)Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-3216294846497002672015-01-22T11:38:50.105-05:002015-01-22T11:38:50.105-05:00Right! Last year I did a fairly good job of postin...Right! Last year I did a fairly good job of posting once a week; this year I'm already behind on that. Every single person in my house has been sick at least once since New Year's. On top of all that, I'm now working part-time from home, so have even less free time to spare, and what spare time there is is spent on my novel and short stories. I'm sure you know how that is!Meredithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08508302421134951238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-68805368929439684042015-01-22T10:26:41.860-05:002015-01-22T10:26:41.860-05:00I still haven't seen Black Mirror (I will), bu...I still haven't seen Black Mirror (I will), but I do know about how vacations and holidays lead to blog neglect! It's hard sometimes to figure out where the blog "belongs" if that makes any sense, in the constellation of stuff to do!Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-24469617384015859712014-12-03T18:34:41.591-05:002014-12-03T18:34:41.591-05:00It looks like we gravitate towards the same genres...It looks like we gravitate towards the same genres. I have managed to reduce my list to a half dozen unread books... as long as we don't count history books! ;o)Carolinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13522395625129527837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-82290155679448990142014-11-12T11:47:31.487-05:002014-11-12T11:47:31.487-05:00Congratulations, that's very cool!Congratulations, that's very cool!Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-25662043935921435272014-10-31T10:03:44.142-04:002014-10-31T10:03:44.142-04:00Mazel tov on your anniversary!
I know what you me...Mazel tov on your anniversary!<br /><br />I know what you mean; I have a glow-in-the-dark skull (from an exercise I did in a college Modern American Drama class in which I had to recite a monologue from a character who was putting on a school production of "Hamlet") I used to keep out all year long. But the older one got scared of it when he was about 3, so now it's just a Halloween decoration.Meredithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08508302421134951238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-60551575911368661752014-10-31T09:54:22.554-04:002014-10-31T09:54:22.554-04:00All great stuff! We're crazy about Halloween (...All great stuff! We're crazy about Halloween (it's our wedding anniversary, too). We tend to leave many of the Halloween decorations up all year :-)Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-21538522356838262112014-10-29T13:07:24.208-04:002014-10-29T13:07:24.208-04:00I do agree with you about surprise spoilers where ...I do agree with you about surprise spoilers where you didn't expect them. I think where the problem lies is in what the expiration date might be for spoiling shows and movies. "Terminator 2" is certainly old enough that, if you haven't seen it by now and you are over a certain age, you just have to deal with it if it gets spoiled for you. Same with "The Sopranos." "Breaking Bad" only just ended a short time ago, so I think it's still important to keep that one spoiler-free. <br /><br />I guess, for me, the whole point of this blog entry was to point out that we are all responsible for both ends of spoilers: of not being an asshole when it comes to posting them, but also of remembering that others are under no obligation to keep spoilers off their own social media. Since "The Walking Dead" airs on Sunday nights, and I watch it on Monday nights, I feel fine, come Tuesday, posting funny memes and photos of the episodes I find on Twitter and FB. By Tuesday pretty much everyone I know has a)seen the episode; b)is avoiding social media until they can watch it; c)doesn't watch the show and has no plans to; or d)might watch it some day, but the spoilers I post have no effect on that for them. <br /><br />Then, you get to my dad, who likes to talk about movies and TV shows he thinks we should watch by giving us every single sordid detail, including the endings and twists. Before my husband and I ever watched a single episode of "Game of Thrones," we knew exactly what happened in the first three episodes. My dad is just like that: he loves knowing things other people don't know, and he loves letting people *know* he knows things they don't know. Which, is ironic, since I saw "Terminator 2" in theaters before he did (speaking of that movie) and he wouldn't let me tell him so much as the opening shot.Meredithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08508302421134951238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-7378917339920975342014-10-23T10:12:19.275-04:002014-10-23T10:12:19.275-04:00I think that you can post right away if you say &q...I think that you can post right away if you say "spoiler alert" - at this point, it's universal code for "don't read this if you haven't seen the show. I know that when I write about media (usually books), I try to not include any spoilers, partly so I can ignore the whole issue. I'll talk about whether the plot worked, the pacing, characters, without going into detail.<br /><br />For me, the big issue with spoilers is posting cultural zeitgeist stuff, even a year or two later, when we live in a world where you can watch things at your leisure. My wife and I spent years consciously avoiding information about the Sopranos until we got to the series - same with Breaking Bad. I think that even now, you shouldn't let slip critical plot points of, say, Breaking Bad, without noting that there are spoilers coming; thought it might seem to you that "everyone" has seen it, plenty of people haven't, but want to.<br /><br />The thing that's really unforgivable, in my opinion, is casual spoilers in an article not about that thing. Let's say you've been waiting to watch the acclaimed series, The Wizard of Oz, on Netflix. You've avoided information about it scrupulously. One day you're reading an article about weight loss, and the writer says "I felt like the witch - you know, at the end of The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy kills her!" That's totally, totally uncool and you need to be hunted down.<br /><br />The gray area for me are not series, but older movies. I think it's fair game to "spoil" Casablanca, or note that in Terminator 2, Arnold is the good guy. It's so old, and so in the consciousness, that it's up for grabs. Of course, then you have more gray - there are a few movies that are old, but I wouldn't spoil, because you should see it. I don't want to name names, but some movies are quite literally ALL ABOUT THE SPOILER, and if you let it drop (and for what?) you ruin it.Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-47620498707877453912014-09-25T17:18:24.080-04:002014-09-25T17:18:24.080-04:00Congrats on returning to the draft! Figuring out w...Congrats on returning to the draft! Figuring out when to let people read stuff is sometimes hard: do you want them to read it closer to the way readers will, or do you want something more raw, so you can then change it? I agree that more raw is better for other writers. I also agree about too many cooks.Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-72389359223443185102014-09-18T13:11:53.235-04:002014-09-18T13:11:53.235-04:00Good questions!
I do recommend all the books list...Good questions!<br /><br />I do recommend all the books listed here, especially Dreamland and The Known World. If you like Arthuriana, the Pendragon's Banner trilogy is my new favorite. Are any of them dated? Probably. Even by fiction standards, I think Exodus might not stand up, not with the politics going on in Israel today. Then again, right now might be the perfect time to remember how Israel got its start as an independent nation and what threats it faced from the very get-go. <br /><br />I wish I could read more non-fiction. I wish my reading tastes were more diverse, but, like with the menu at my favorite restaurants, I know what I like and I've been too disappointed too often when I venture outside of that. Recently, I've been happily surprised to discover that one area of non-fiction I enjoy is autobiographies or memoirs of female comics. Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling: they're funny, they're insightful, they aren't boring. So, there's that, I guess. :-)<br /><br />Every year my husband has a "reading project" he assigns himself, and this year I made my own: spec fic by women of color. I've been toying with the idea, for next year, of doing subgenres of sf/f/h that I don't normally read: steampunk, space opera, epic (second world) fantasy, cyberpunk, etc. What do you think?Meredithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08508302421134951238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-23241217851117843762014-09-18T08:39:26.009-04:002014-09-18T08:39:26.009-04:00For a long time, I read everything - crime fiction...For a long time, I read everything - crime fiction, thrillers, literary, speculative fiction. When I jumped back into the world of SFF I read exclusively that for a while, now I'm intentionally aiming for 25% or so, and broadening out. I kind of want to read everything (fiction). I definitely think that you don't have to be "steeped" in SFF to write it - what do you think? Of course, part of what I mean is that as a guy who reads a couple of books a month, being "on top" of what's coming out really isn't an option, anyway.<br /><br />At any rate, I'm the same way about non-fiction. I really want to read it, but I just don't enjoy it. Part of it is the way my brain works: I don't absorb information well unless I'm using it, so a bunch of facts are interesting at the time, but I won't retain them if I don't integrate them.<br /><br />So of the books you listed, which would you most recommend? Do you think any of them would be dated, today?Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-25944703908199152272014-07-19T19:03:24.604-04:002014-07-19T19:03:24.604-04:00Well done Meredith! Coming to the end of a draft i...Well done Meredith! Coming to the end of a draft is a huge event, and over 100k, no small feat. I haven't tried a novel yet... but I feel like that time is getting closer.<br /><br />I look forward to hearing about revisions in the future.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06722557426104272152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-59546861299776920412014-07-17T09:09:56.853-04:002014-07-17T09:09:56.853-04:00Congrats on nearing the end (of the draft)! I tend...Congrats on nearing the end (of the draft)! I tend to sort of hold my cards close in terms of talking about my writing. These days it's been rough - we're selling the house, so all my time is taken up with that, and I'm outlining, so the drafting won't even start for another couple of months. Enjoy revising! Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-2931469471991590312014-06-04T18:17:06.938-04:002014-06-04T18:17:06.938-04:00Exactly! "Front-loading." I'm still ...Exactly! "Front-loading." I'm still making notes as I go along, of things I want to make sure I address in the first round of revisions, but otherwise, using the outline I made has made a first draft *much* easier - and probably much better.Meredithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08508302421134951238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-19226038513061128732014-06-04T17:43:21.967-04:002014-06-04T17:43:21.967-04:00I'm a huge fan of outlining - partly because i...I'm a huge fan of outlining - partly because it would be impossible for me to sit down and write, but also because outlining allows a much higher degree of conscious control and complexity that makes it to the first draft. For me, outlining is about front loading the work, so the first draft is likely to need less revision ("less" meaning still plenty!).Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-46518507876982645602014-05-29T13:05:27.156-04:002014-05-29T13:05:27.156-04:00I love the idea of having different characters app...I love the idea of having different characters approach the same ideas and themes from different angles. That's a great way to create believable characters.Meredithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08508302421134951238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-60752511561155922452014-05-28T21:39:24.764-04:002014-05-28T21:39:24.764-04:00I have long lists of personality traits, values, a...I have long lists of personality traits, values, and beliefs that I start with, and riff on as I detail characters. My experience is that if you build out the details and solidify them in your mind, the character emerges fairly naturally on the page. <br /><br />One thing I tend to do is have different characters approaching themes and ideas from different angles - this differentiates them, and makes them active (I hope).<br /><br />Nice article. I loved the new Sherlock's take on Moriarty: eternally bored, because nothing is a challenge.Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-52601615559322944322014-05-21T15:50:21.545-04:002014-05-21T15:50:21.545-04:00Wait... you don't have an army of nannies, and...Wait... you don't have an army of nannies, and a mansion with half a dozen play rooms filled with millions of toys and games?<br /><br />Image. Blown!Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-91150963875445638332014-05-07T14:41:22.302-04:002014-05-07T14:41:22.302-04:00Princess Twineater - I can definitely see it. It m...Princess Twineater - I can definitely see it. It might bode poorly for Luke, though!Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.com