Roger Floyd's Website

  • A Few More Thoughts On AI

    AI [Artificial Intelligence] is so hot these days (I’m writing this on 3/10/2024) I feel I have to comment on it.  Generally, I’m not too much in favor of writers using AI to “write” a book or story or any kind of written communication.  AI takes away the personality of the writer which always infuses…

    Read more: A Few More Thoughts On AI

  • Research And Novel Writing

    If you’re expecting this post to be about doing research for a novel you may have in the works, that’s nice and I applaud your incentive, but that’s not what I had in mind when I sat down to write.  Instead of commenting on doing the research that invariably comes with writing a novel, I…

    Read more: Research And Novel Writing

  • Keep The Action Going

    Lately I’ve been watching reruns of the TV crime drama “Major Crimes.”  I like the action as the detectives of the Major Crimes unit solve the case.  The show is well written and the cases deliciously complicated, which keeps me guessing as to the identity of the perpetrator.  But the one major drawback of the…

    Read more: Keep The Action Going

  • Notes And Commentary, Part 2

    Here are a few commentaries and observations designed to fill this space with words.  These are especially directed toward those of my readers who are writers. Which of the two constructions do you prefer?   1) I’m ten years older than him.  Or: 2) I’m ten years older than he is. The quote, “A [fill in…

    Read more: Notes And Commentary, Part 2

  • Beyond Creativity

    What is it we are actually doing by being creative?  That is, by making up a story such as a novel or a short story, or by producing a scientific paper that adds to the sum of human knowledge about some aspect of humanity, what is it that lies below the surface of this creativity? …

    Read more: Beyond Creativity

  • Starting Slowly

    Why do written works have to start with something that captures the reader’s attention immediately?  We novice writers are told repeatedly that in order to get a book to sell, we have to grab the reader’s attention with a boffo line or sentence.  This is because, we are told, readers are a fickle group and will…

    Read more: Starting Slowly

  • Random Thoughts And Ugly Comments

    Just a few thoughts about incidents that have taken place over the past few weeks.  I’ve completed a massive revision of the third novel in my Anthanian Imperative trilogy, and now the novel looks pretty good.  I’ve been working on it for about five years now, and it’s in good enough shape I wouldn’t be…

    Read more: Random Thoughts And Ugly Comments

  • Sex Scenes

    Are sex scenes really necessary in novels? That depends.  I just read a book that had a sex scene that took up one entire chapter, and I got to wondering if it was really necessary to the plot.  Did the story really need that chapter?  The scene was between two characters, a male and a…

    Read more: Sex Scenes

  • Teaching Writing

    I’ve noticed on Facebook recently some postings from at least one (possibly more) famous author(s) that are essentially advertisements for writing programs that purport to help the person who responds to the ad learn to write novels like the famous author.  Some even say “I’ll teach you to write like me.”  I’m a little concerned…

    Read more: Teaching Writing

  • Good Or Best

    In today’s all-or-nothing society, where everything has to be the absolute best there is, where every day has to be totally awesome and worthy of inclusion in the history books, where everyone is expected to perform at maximum intensity all day long, and where multi-tasking is not simply an uncommon though admirable character trait but an absolute job requirement, I believe we have…

    Read more: Good Or Best