I did it. I wrote. I finished short stories. I wrote poetic prose. Some shitty stuff. Some stuff I’m proud of. I got paid for my writing. I finished a novel. I was included in an anthology. I sat in writers workshops with IV leaguers and successful authors. I took a dozen college courses. IContinue reading “Now I’m Ready.”
Tag Archives: on writing
Character Development
Characters can make or break our novel. That’s why it’s important to find time to focus on your characters. An underdeveloped character can take away from a well-developed world and can lose your readers’ attention. It can be daunting to think about how much we have to do in our stories, but it doesn’t haveContinue reading “Character Development”
Character Development
Yesterday, I shared about how important drive and motivation is for Character Development. Today the important thing to focus on is your character’s relationships. How does your character interact with people pets or aliens? Are they shy aggressive nonchalant? Are their reactions consistent and how does their character arch impact their relationships throughout the story?Continue reading “Character Development”
Novel Frustrations
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Maya Angelou I’m thinking about adding a character to my story and it’s really giving me a lot of trouble. I don’t have a clear idea who the character is or where to put them within the story. I know their role inContinue reading “Novel Frustrations”
Choosing What Feedback
Writing groups provide the “Best way to learn to choose what feedback is important.” What do I mean by this? Well, let me start with a little writer’s community gossip. There’s a story going around that Hans Christian Andersen fell on his face and sobbed from getting critical feedback about his writing. (I’ve been there,Continue reading “Choosing What Feedback”
You Should Understand
As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand. Ernest Hemingway As a writer, it is my job to understand humans as they are. If I place even one person under a microscope, I lose the context of their entire being. I remove them from their experiences, their feelings, their dreams, and place themContinue reading “You Should Understand”
Let It Drip
Step into a scene and let it drip from your fingertips. MJ Bush If there was a way to describe one of the most amazing feelings of the writers life, this would be it, (for me). I wrote a blog post titled “‘Come Upon’ the Right Word” that spoke on divine inspiration. This quote remindsContinue reading “Let It Drip”
Under Water
All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath. F. Scott Fitzgerald Of all the quotes I’ve posted in the past week, this in one I’ve related to most. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with all the work it takes to write a novel and sometimes I’m floating along enjoying the ideas that come.Continue reading “Under Water”
Belly of the Whale
I blew the dust off my Joseph Campbell book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces to brush up on the different parts of the hero’s journey. One of the parts of the journey that caught my eye was Belly of the Whale. According to Joseph Campbell, The idea that the passage of the magical thresholdContinue reading “Belly of the Whale”
Inspired Writer
You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write. Annie Proulx I needed this reminder today. I forget how much I loved experimenting with phonetic sounds, words, dark andContinue reading “Inspired Writer”
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