Matthew's Blog
One In Thirty
When I explore a creative topic, roughly twenty-nine out of thirty of my ideas are either average or stupid. The average ones are usually restatements of other bland ideas; the stupid ones have no substance, entirely miss the point, or are offensive (or some...
My Favorite Blog Post in July 2022
My favorite blog post in July 2022 is Creating vs Consuming; Creator vs Consumer. Recognizing and defining a key barrier in oneself is essential to improvement.
What Fiction Writing Makes Me
One aspect I love about writing fiction is that I get to create a world. I create this world’s physics. I create this world’s origin story. And I create who and what populates this world. Heck, I can even create the absolute destruction of this world! Think about that...
The Magic Of My Good Writing
Where does the magic of my good writing come from? Well, in the picture above, do you see the wand on the chair? That’s Hermione Granger’s wand. It’s made from vine wood, and has a dragon heartstring core. Hermione used it to master the Levitation Charm in her first...
Written Mission Statements Are Hijack Prevention
One of the great benefits of having a written mission statement is it helps prevent your life’s purpose from being hijacked by someone else. In these turbulent socio-political times there are many causes worthy of attention. However, the question for you and I isn’t...
A Definition of Voice
I recently took a writing masterclass taught by the publisher Brooke Warner on finding your writer’s voice. She presented one definition of voice which initially didn’t make sense to me: Voice = Courage. But then she pointed out that the root of the word courage is...
Novel Advice
As a physician, I’ve often had to give advice to patients that they didn’t want to hear, but needed to hear. As a writer, in a recent conversation with an experienced agent, I found myself with the shoe on the other foot. I received advice about my debut novel that I...
Advice to Self: On Autonomy
When you have reached a certain level of creative autonomy—of freedom—be very wary of giving it up.
The Morning Quiet
I love the morning quiet, the time just before sunrise, usually between 4:30 am and 5:30 am. At home at this time it's just me and my cat. I have my coffee and writing material, and he has his treat and bowl of wet food. Its simply lovely. Outside of the home this...