D. Thomas Minton
writes speculative fiction from his home in the mountains of British Columbia.
Category Archives: Writing
Don’t Be Afraid to Break the Eggs
A couple of days ago, I wrote a post about past versus present tense, so when I came across a wish list of writing rules to break by Charlie Jane Anders at io9, I got a crazy, déjà vu feeling when I saw “No … Continue reading
Does (or Did) Tense Matter?
There seem to be unwritten rules about writing, particularly with regard to things like point of view and tense. I’ve had people tell me that stories should be written in the past tense instead of the present tense (or the future, for that … Continue reading
Step Inside, World
As someone who works in the sciences for my day job, I’m fascinated by data and what they can tell me. Naturally, I love the site-visitor statistics that WordPress supplies (one of these days I will plug this thing into Google … Continue reading
Posted in General News, Inspiration, Writing
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Three More “Rules for Writing”
In December, I published a post on Rules for Writing. I recently came across another “set” of rules from W. Somerset Maugham that put a smile on my face: “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows … Continue reading
Challenge the Way We Think
I came across a quote from Stephen Sondheim that I really liked: “If people have split views about your work, I think it’s flattering. I’d rather have them feel something about it than dismiss it.” So true, so true… I … Continue reading
Religion and the Decline of Science Fiction
One of the things I like about my writing group, Hopefull Monsters, is we often engage in philosophical discussions about the state of speculative fiction. Recently we had a wide-ranging discussion about the apparent decline in the number of the people … Continue reading
Posted in Hopefull Monsters, Science Fiction, Writing
Tagged Decline in Reading, Reading, Religion
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Dissecting “Observations on a Clock”
I’m still fairly new to the writing game, so it still surprises me when I see my story mentioned by people I don’t know. Michael Haynes runs a feature on his website called short story dissections*, wherein he takes a published … Continue reading
Long But Good Days
It’s been a long week. The day job kicked into high gear, turning into several eleven-hour work days. I have to admit it’s not as bad as it sounds because the long days were spent “in the field,” which, when … Continue reading
Taking the Next Step: 2012 Writing Goals
I’m a goal-oriented person. Goals help me focus my efforts and give me tangible targets towards which to work. Last year was the first year I set concrete writing goals because I wanted to get serious about trying to turn my fiction … Continue reading
Posted in Goals, Writing
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“Reqiuem For Shiva” Finds Its Place
My novelette “Requiem for Shiva” has found a home with The Future Fire, which publishes social-political and progressive speculative fiction. I never considered this story to fit that description until I went back and really looked at it (before that, it was … Continue reading
D. Thomas Minton 