Category Archives: Jim Denney

C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, and the Life-Changing Power of Stories

Posted on April 21, 2018 by writinginoverdrive

by Jim Denney Clive Staples Lewis — “Jack” to his friends and family — was raised in the Church of Ireland. The death of his mother when he was nine years old shattered his happy childhood. By age fifteen, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Jim Denney, Uncategorized | Tagged Atheism, C. S. Lewis, Conversion, Doubt, Faith, George MacDonald, God, Holiness, Phantastes, story | Leave a comment

A Prayer for the Blank Page

Posted on March 17, 2018 by writinginoverdrive

by Jim Denney “Almighty God, bestow upon us the meaning of words, the light of understanding, the nobility of diction, and the faith of the true nature. And grant that what we believe, we may also speak.” —Hilary of Poitiers (A.D. … Continue reading →

Posted in Jim Denney, Uncategorized | Tagged Beginning, Blank page, Chesterton, Churchill, creativity, Dante, Father Brown, fear, First sentence, Hilary of Poitiers, Ideas, inspiration, Jim Denney, Margaret Atwood, prayer, Steinbeck, writing, Writing in Overdrive | 1 Comment

Fiction is a Different Kind of Truth

Posted on February 25, 2018 by writinginoverdrive

by Jim Denney “All good books have one thing in common — they are truer than if they had really happened.” —Ernest Hemingway I’m a fan of Lawrence Block and Stephen King, but there’s something these two fine writers have … Continue reading →

Posted in Jim Denney, Uncategorized | Tagged Deception, Ernest Hemingway, fiction, Flannery O'Connor, Kurt Vonnegut, lies, Orson Scott Card, Stephen King, truth, Willing Suspension of Disbelief, Writing in Overdrive | 1 Comment

Writing is Finger-Painting with Words

Posted on February 10, 2018 by writinginoverdrive

by Jim Denney A few years ago, I taught a workshop at a writer’s conference. After one session, a young woman came up to me and said, “My problem is that I never finish anything. I’m so afraid that someone … Continue reading →

Posted in Jim Denney, Uncategorized | Tagged creativity, Fun, Jodi Picoult, John Steinbeck, Perfectionism, Permission to write badly, writing, writing advice, writing fiction, Writing in Overdrive, writing inspiration, Writing motivation | Leave a comment

Who Are Your Inklings?

Posted on January 20, 2018 by writinginoverdrive

“Is there any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a good fire?” — C. S. Lewis The Inklings were C.S. Lewis’s closest friends and toughest critics. During the time of his greatest productivity as … Continue reading →

Posted in Jim Denney, Uncategorized | Tagged accountability, Alcoholics Anonymous, C. S. Lewis, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, LOTR, Tolkien, Writers Group | 5 Comments

Do you dream of being a writer?

Posted on December 30, 2017 by writinginoverdrive

by Jim Denney Mark Twain retreated to a shed at Quarry Farm in New York, where he wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne used to write his books in a high tower of his château … Continue reading →

Posted in Jim Denney, Uncategorized | Tagged concentration, distractions, finding time to write, focus, inspiration, Isaac Asimov, J. K. Rowling, Joyce Carol Oates, Mark Twain, prayer, Ray Bradbury, writing, writing advice, writing craft, writing inspiration, writing rituals | Leave a comment

The Harvey Weinstein of Star Trek

Posted on December 16, 2017 by writinginoverdrive

By Jim Denney Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was the first to fall. In early October 2017, several courageous women stepped forward and accused Weinstein of various acts of sexual misconduct including sexual harassment, assault, and rape. So far, more than … Continue reading →

Posted in Jim Denney, Uncategorized | Tagged #MeToo, Charlie Rose, Grace Lee Whitney, Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Sexual Misconduct, Star Trek, The Longest Trek, Weinstein effect | 1 Comment

Dinosaurs, Amazon Reviews, and This Thrill-Ride Called Life

Posted on November 11, 2017 by writinginoverdrive

by Jim Denney I just did something authors are NOT supposed to do: reading Amazon.com reviews of my book. Why shouldn’t writers read their reviews? Some say nothing good can come of it. The five-star reviews will swell your head … Continue reading →

Posted in Jim Denney, Uncategorized | Tagged Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Battle Before Time, children, children's books, Evolution, reviews, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Timebenders | 1 Comment

Lessons from the Wildfire

Posted on October 21, 2017 by writinginoverdrive

By Jim Denney A little less than a month ago, I was returning from a medical appointment, with a brief stop at Target. From the Target parking lot, I saw a thin plume of smoke in the distance. After I … Continue reading →

Posted in Jim Denney, Uncategorized | Tagged Brushfires, California, choices, Decisions, eternity, Fires, life, life and death, priorities, Wildfires | 1 Comment

The Emotional Life of a Writer

Posted on October 14, 2017 by writinginoverdrive

by Jim Denney To me, writing is not so much a mental activity as an emotional activity. When I’m writing well, I’m not thinking about the words — I’m feeling the emotions, and those emotions pour out of me in … Continue reading →

Posted in Jim Denney, Uncategorized | Tagged 9/11, Battle Before Time, Darkness, Doorway to Doom, Emotions, Middle Grade Fiction, Moods, prayer, Science Fantasy, Timebenders, Writing Process | Leave a comment

The Gift of Wings

Posted on September 23, 2017 by writinginoverdrive

by Jim Denney In September 1962, my third-grade class filed into the school library in search of adventure. I found mine right away—a book displayed on the “new arrivals” shelf. It had a blue cover with three children silhouetted against … Continue reading →