Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing

Posts tagged “Amsterdam

What inspires me?

Posted on December 21, 2010

Sitting at my desk, trying to fight an ‘Oh god, will I ever be done with this manuscript?’-feeling, I searched for inspiration. I am in desperate need for a spark that will not only my light DARK FIBER, but my mind and my writing. It doesn’t have to be much, just a teeny weeny spark will suffice. You would say that the lady in white, that beautiful snow-covered oldie outside we call Amsterdam, would be enough to get me back on track, but it’s not. Not today. What else is there to inspire me? Fiddling around at my desk, I stumbled upon a picture from way back. It’s a photo of the Ricciotti Ensemble and it features one of my two dearests. He played…

Revisions

Posted on December 13, 2010

What is it with revisions that they tend to make a writer’s life harder and at the same time light as snow? I am working on the revision of DARK FIBER or TURING’S DECEIT –still haven’t decided on the title– and it goes well. I do the revision in my own well-tried and proven way. I open the manuscript and place it on the left side of my screen. I open an immaculate document right next to it, which I title REVISION. Next I simply start writing from the very beginning. I retype the entire manuscript and along the way I rewrite and rethink, I change and tweak and kill some of my dearest darlings –some of the life one’s as well I must…

Brothers

Posted on December 2, 2010

When I looked out of the window this morning and saw cold and wintery Amsterdam, I couldn’t help but think of Hodur, the Nordic God of Winter, the one who was tricked by Loki into killing his brother Baldur. Hodur was blind and it dawned upon me how apt this was for the God of Winter. Snow and mist do diminish your sight. I tried to locate the Westertoren, as I always do when I start my day. You live in Amsterdam if you can see the Westertoren from your window, real Amsterdammers say. I know it’s right there, behind the tree, just a notch left from the tallest building on the other side of the canal. But… I couldn’t find it. It vanished,…

A final boost

Posted on November 22, 2010

Where would you go if you needed a boost? Who can give you that final push to get you to the finish line? What works for you? I am in the final stages of the DARK FIBER revision. It’s working out well for Jonathan Kelder and his antagonist Matt Turing, but for me it’s a long and hard journey towards the end and I definitely needed a boost. Amsterdam, of course, provides plenty of boosting opportunities, but being a straight edger most of them are –out of choice, but still :)– beyond my reach. I have plenty of friends, the writing kind and the non-writing kind, that will gladly pull me through. Actually, I even have a whole NaNoWriMo group that cheers me on, these…

Amsterdam view: a writer’s autumn

Posted on October 20, 2010

Today’s a writing day. I can feel it in my bones, I can see it outside. It is the most perfect weather for a writer, here in Amsterdam. Like yesterday – when I did 5,000 words on the revision of my techno thriller Turing’s Deceit, a.k.a. Dark Fiber – autumn races past my window, pushing on every writing fiber in my body. A stiff northern wind brings me sunshine and bright skies one minute, hail and thunderstorms the next. It is as if the Northern gods urge me to write faster and faster, as if they want me and my protagonist to hurry up, and get us to Ragnarök to fight that mythical war against the great serpent. I am wondering whether my protagonist…

Amsterdam view: high school research

Posted on October 14, 2010

    It was a almost like a trip down memory lane. I had to report at school, at 12 sharp. High school, that is. Now I have been at high schools quite a bit these past years. It comes with the territory: children’s book writers go out for reading and signing sessions at schools. It’s fun and it creates an audience, it sells books. I often combine a reading session with a workshop creative writing. It’s amazing how much talent there is out there! After spending a couple of hours with kids I usually head home tired but totally replenished. My inspiration cup filled to the brim with intriguing protagonists and unexpected plot twists, and with the strongest urge to write, write and…

Amsterdam view: Amsterdam on fire again?

Posted on October 7, 2010

    Last Friday the Amsterdam sky lit up with protest fires, built on the bridges by outraged squatters, thrill-seeking tourists and hormone-driven adolescents. Last night the skies lit up again. But this time it wasn’t the anti-riot squad that did the scattering, this time it was the sun. For me it felt like the Sun Spirit was telling me he was keeping his fingers crossed. It felt like he was sending me all the good luck in the world. I need those good luck wishes! I need them in relation to that wonderful skin-crawling adventure fantasy I wrote and that is on its way to the US: THE SUN SPIRIT! It is the first volume of the Warriors of the Sun tetralogy and…