Dane SwanTag

Creative Writing as Martial Art? Part 2 (Final)

Step one is acknowledging that writing is a martial art. Words have power. To this day, in many countries the first people executed in times of war are poets. In the West this may be lost, but we have ...

Creative Writing as Martial Art? Part 1

I have always tried to define the ethos that guides my writing. Until recently, the closest I could come to a complete answer was the idea of writing as craft. I was taking literature out of the world ...

Writer's Block Does Not Exist (Part 4 Final)

Step four: Editing and final draftDo you know the difference between a creative writer and a hobbyist? Editing. Can you handle criticism? Can you give good criticism? Can you critique your own work?So ...

Writer's Block Does Not Exist (Part 3)

Step three: writing your draftsFirst draft (punctuation optional)."Have you ever rolled down your windows to smell the aroma of an organic orange plantation on a summer night? Dreaming the ecstasy of ...

Writer's Block Does Not Exist (Part 2)

The internet is awesome. How many arguments have I won simply by using a Google search? Seriously, use the internet properly! Apparently this is a lost art. If you are a more serious writer, or you are ...

Writer's Block Does Not Exist (Part 1)

Or it does. But for the sake of this blog it does not. What is writer's block? I don't know, because it does not exist. Here's the thing, whether you are a professional creative writer, a skilled hobbyist, ...

Profile: Oni the Haitian Sensatian

With questions about the current place of the African-Canadian/Black writer, I reached out to a number of poets in the community for their expertise. The first -- Oni the Haitian Sensation.Oni the Haitian ...

On Writing, with Dane Swan

By Open Book and Dane SwanDane Swan is Open Book's February 2014 Writer in Residence. In his On Writing interview, he tells us about his latest book, Bending the Continuum, his next project and his ideal ...