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Cameron Dryden's OriGenes, where stories come from, and where they go
Cameron Dryden's OriGenes, where stories come from, and where they go
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  • Cam’s Process
  • Cam’s Research
  • Author Insights
  • Book DNA
Category: Cam’s Process

Cam's Process

Every Story Needs Bones

January 2, 2019
skeletons dancing

“A person lacking bones is a jellyfish—an aimless, floating blob.” – Anon An earlier post discussed this cool idea I had one Christmas vacation for a science fiction trilogy, and how I began by finding pictures of my imagined characters on the internet and summarizing them in a character outline. Each one had their own…

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Cam's Process • Cam's Research • Writers Writing

Obsessive Writing: Get the Right Rat!

September 11, 2018
Book covers: thieves of Ostia, Birds of Europe, Confessions of Young Nero

My question seemed simple: what fauna flourished around Rome and Ostia in the first century? Creating the world of my historical novel depended on getting the right answer, so I did what any good fiction writer does—I googled, purchased and read a variety of books (above), and even traveled to the place. Obsessing the details is…

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Beginnings • Cam's Process

The Muse vs. the Plan, or Another Way to Begin a Story

August 30, 2018
scribbles

I’m not much of a planner. This is not a philosophical stance, just the way my brain works. I jump with both bare feet into whatever stream interests me. I don’t pick the best spot on the stream or check the speed of the current. I go. It’s only after I’ve experienced some of the…

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Cam's Process • Craft & Commas

Expect to Be Surprised

August 17, 2018
floating genie in Rome

My wife and I were sitting down to lunch in Greece at a rooftop restaurant shaded by a vined trellis. It was summertime, about 90 degrees F. Sweat dotted my forehead. Dogs lay on their sides in the road then lumbered onto all fours and ambled away lazily, without purpose. The numerous feral cats were…

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Cam's Process

If You Fail to Plan

April 26, 2018
typewriter drawing

  Benjamin Franklin is reputed to have said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Now that I’ve been writing novels for several years, I couldn’t agree more. When I began my first book, Nicole Kiernan, a colleague at work who had contributed to several screenplays, advised me to put quality time…

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