John Woodington The official site for the author.

They Banned That?Posted by John Woodington on September 30th, 2009

So it is Banned Books Week, and I thought it would be pertinent to post a few links for everyone to see what they should most definitely not be reading.

Here’s a list of banned books and reasons behind their banning.

Here’s a more comprehensive list of the top 100 banned books.

And here’s a great set of charts that show which books get banned and who requests their banning (thanks to Neil Gaiman for pointing me to this one).

edit: After scanning through the list of the top 100, I counted that I had read 25 (so far), and I don’t recall being offended or damaged by any of them.  Though Ayn Rand was close…

First Draft CompletedPosted by John Woodington on September 29th, 2009

I just finished the first draft of “Lawnmower Boy”, which ended up being a little longer than I’d hoped it would, but editing can fix that.  It’s a little over 5600 words, and I was hoping for it to end up closer to the 4000 word range, so I’ll see what I can trim.  I’ll give it a good polishing, and then give it to my trusted first reader (my wife) for a very honest critique.  After that, it’ll be another revision, and then either more reviews from different readers, or I’ll call it good and begin submitting it to publications.

For a short taste, here’s the (tentative) first line of the story:

There was only one reason Riley Krech volunteered to mow the Kendry High School football and soccer fields each week, and that was to watch Mona Briand practice with the dance team out on the south lawn.

EndingsPosted by John Woodington on September 24th, 2009

Still working on an initial draft of  “Lawnmower Boy”, but I do have an idea of what the ending will be, which is strange for me, as I tend to struggle with endings.  I want the ending to flow from the general buildup of the narrative, but I also want some sort of unpredictability around the ending as well, and so I often have to put more effort into the ending than I do the beginning and the middle.

Every once in a while, though, the ending comes easily.  One resource that has helped me a lot is the book Elements of Writing Fiction – Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress.  In fact, the entire series of the Elements of Writing Fiction has proven to be extremely valuable to me.  The books range in topics and substance, and are all written by different authors, which seems to give them a nice variety in style and substance.  Check ‘em out!

Reading and WritingPosted by John Woodington on September 22nd, 2009

Currently Writing:
I’m drafting a story tentatively called “Lawnmower Boy”, about a seventeen-year-old boy who is enamored with a girl on the high school dance team.  The story shows the lengths he goes to impress her, and the trouble he gets into because of it.  So far, the writing is coming in chunks, though I hope that doesn’t mean the story will end up “chunky.”  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.  And possibly rewrite significantly…

Currently Reading:
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.  Just made it through the first book, and in general I’m impressed with the prose and the subtlety and the way the narrative touches on meaningful themes without being obtrusive or obvious.  My left arm is also getting a good workout holding this monster tome.  Seriously.

OfficializedPosted by John Woodington on September 21st, 2009

Things have been put in order, and this is now, officially, my official website.  All updates and information about me will be found here.  Thanks for visiting!

John

The First PostPosted by John Woodington on September 21st, 2009

This is my first blog post here, and I’d just like let everyone know that I will be updating it frequently with useful information, anecdotes, bits of stories, and hopefully intriguing and embarrassing pictures and videos of me and my writing life.  And whatever other lives I might be leading at the time.  So check back frequently!

John