creativity

This Is Why My Blog Is Dying

/ Stuart Danker / 121 Comments

Oh wow, another week’s passed, and I’m once again writing my weekly post at the last possible minute. If I’m honest, this workflow hasn’t been the best for my blog growth.

What I’ve worked hard these past few years is now dwindling, and I find myself not having a choice but to just deal with it.

But if you know me, you’ll know that nothing’s ever a loss. A writer’s life is always win-win because there’s always a story you can flesh out of the bad experiences.

So the good part of all this is that I get to share my gradual downfall with you. All you’ll need to do is to apply the opposite and you’ll be golden.

See? Win-win.

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Where I Get All My Writing Ideas From

/ Stuart Danker / 123 Comments

A bunch of people brain storming in a meeting room with a cork board and post-it notes

Where do you get your ideas from?

I personally can’t say. I know when they have the most odds of showing up, but I don’t exactly know where they come from.

But as fate would have it, my friend would ask me this question on a particularly eventless morning, and that would be the tinder for this post. So Wan, if you’re reading this, that’s how I get my ideas.

Maybe this post will answer that question proper. Or maybe I’m just writing this because I need something for this week. Either way, let’s take a quick tour through my Idea Central and see if we can source for its… uh… source.

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How Drafting Longhand Can Enhance Your Writing

/ Stuart Danker / 120 Comments

longhand-manuscript-dim-hou

You know how you try clothes on before deciding what to wear on a date? Do you iron those clothes before holding them in the mirror? I hope not, because that’ll be like undoing your pants to fart.

Yet that’s how most writers tend to approach the first draft. They iron their clothes, spritz on a bit of perfume, and have their makeup ready—all before knowing what they’re going to wear.

So today we’re going to talk first drafts. But we’re not going to talk just any first draft. We’re going to check out the benefits of drafting longhand.

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The 5 Realities I’ve Accepted As A Writer

/ Stuart Danker / 103 Comments

You know what I like about pursuing a certain discipline? It’s that it teaches me about everything else in life. Because the way you do something is the way you do everything.

Writing is no different. I’ve learned so much more about myself thanks to the craft. For one, it’s taught me how much of a procrastinating bum I am.

Besides that, it’s also highlighted how much I can dream, yet not pursue said dream out of fear, or laziness, or who knows what else. In a way, writing has helped me address some problems, and come to terms with others.

And here’s me coming to terms with certain… not so fun facts about writing, thanks to writing.

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How Writing Short Stories Can Improve Your Novel Writing Skills (And Writing In General)

/ Stuart Danker / 90 Comments
String lights clumped up in the middle of a novel

Before we begin, I’d just like to announce my cyberpunk short’s acceptance into the Fish Eats Lion Redux anthology which, for me, puts the rad into my trad-publishing ambitions.

I’m pretty proud of this piece, since Singaporeans were given priority for acceptance, and here I am, a random Malaysian, just trying to belong among the other talented writers from across the Causeway.

Maybe I’ve finally paid my dues. They say you need to get your first million words down before you get to the good stuff. Or maybe I just got lucky.

Either way, here’s a totally scientific (and totally not anecdotal or anything) post about why short-story writing would benefit the novelist, even if they don’t plan to pursue the genre.

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