As a writer, I pay attention to words. The use of the word they as a gender-neutral singular pronoun has been a debate among my editing and writing friends. Many people take offense to the use of he, she, her, his, it, and him in reference to their gender identity. Let’s set aside the identity debate…
Category: Writing
Eating Your Own Tail: Self-Publishing Websites
Are you interested in publishing your own book? Many anime bloggers aspire toward it, but when you start researching, it seems books about self publishing dominate self publishing. Self-publishing websites all parrot each other. They all sell their own books full of secrets and tips. While there’s nothing wrong with this, you have to wonder…
Be a Creator, Not a Consumer
Because I work at a library, it strikes me how much people consume. Most of our circulation centers on DVDs and technology. Many patrons, particularly retirees, watch a lot of TV. A lot. We allow 8 DVD checkouts, including TV series. Many people visit the library three times a week and get their limit. Now,…
3 Tips for Writing Better Fan Fiction
Fan fiction lets you practice writing without the difficulties of inventing characters, worlds, and more. It helps you build writing confidence and experiment. It also helps you learn the pleasures and frustrations of a creative life. However, many frown upon fan fiction as second rate writing. After all, fan fiction lacks quality. It lacks originality….
Wordy Wordiness – My Blog Writing Process
It’s hard to write blog articles regularly. Over the years, I’ve developed a loose process I thought to share with you. It may not work for you, and I don’t always stick with it. Some days, I feel inspired and dash off a blog post in no time. Other ideas require days, if not weeks,…
JapanPowered — Looking back on 2019
The year 2019 was an interestingly normal one for me. JP has remained steady, enjoying modest growth in traffic: 511, 697 visits, up from 508,001 in 2018. I didn’t release a new book this year, opting to focus on writing. That said, Kanzashi is looking at a late February or March release. Kanzashi is a…