Choose the Bolder
Writing » Inspirational, Quotes, TipsNovember 18th, 2008
“When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take–choose the bolder.”
- Ezra Pound
This month, you’re doing what many think is the impossible: you’re writing a novel-length book in thirty days.
Fifty-thousand words in thirty days.
Are you insane?
Yes, yes you are, and I love that about you.
In the Midst of Living
Writing » Inspirational, Setting, Tips, Writer's BlockNovember 11th, 2008
“My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.”
- Anaïs Nin, French Writer
First, I need to say that last week the lovely Evangeline at Edwardian Promenade awarded the I Love This Blog to me, and I have to spread the love around. See the end of this post for the award, and my nominations. <3
This week’s exercise is to take a look around you. So often do we writers get lost in the act of writing, that we forget we are supposed to be writing about life. Who are these characters that we spend our every waking moments with? How can we possibly know who they are, and how to make them distinct, if all we do is sit around our houses dreaming about them?
A Six Word Story
Writing » Hook, Plot, Tips, Writer's BlockNovember 4th, 2008
This month, I’m doing a series of short exercises, one a week, to help those of you who are stuck with your WIP. Maybe you’re doing NaNoWriMo, maybe not. In any case, it helps to have an exercise to spark your imagination.
This week’s exercise is a challenge in brevity. The goal of NaNoWriMo, for instance, is to write 50k words in a month. A 50k word work is about the length of a short novel, similar to an Avon or Harlequin romance. This can be a challenge in and of itself… how do you write a novel with developed characters and an interesting plot in 50k words? Some writers, who are cheating themselves, will litter their WIP with adverbs, adjectives, and unnecessary description just to make that word count goal.
Everything is Ready
Writing » Inspirational, TipsOctober 7th, 2008
“If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.”
- Ivan Turgenev
When someone finds out I’m a writer, I inevitably hear about how they have a couple stories of their own lurking in their head, or three novels half-started, etc. Which I applaud, because I’m always happy to hear about fellow writers doing their best to write.
Rarely have I ever heard a story where they finished the work.
Sometimes this is because they’ve lost interest. Sometimes they cite the dreaded Writer’s Block. Sometimes they just don’t know how to begin.
On Writing the First Three Chapters
Writing » TipsSeptember 2nd, 2008
Crazy as it may seem, I don’t worry about the first three chapters. Wait, I take that back. I do worry. I worry about them a lot. But at the same time, I’m not too worried about them.
See, the thing is, and I hope Jaye is reading this…
I almost never keep the first draft of my first three chapters.
“What?” you cry. “How is that possible? They are the foundations to your plot! They set up everything that will come, and has most recently been, in your work!”
How to be a Computer-based Beta Reader
Writing » Editing, Editors, TipsAugust 18th, 2008
Now that we’re all connected using Crit Partner Match (if you haven’t joined, you should!), it occurred to me that many of us are computer-based beta readers, which can be a monumental task. So today’s tidbit will provide useful tricks in Microsoft Word 2003 to help you become a more efficient and productive beta reader. If you use a different program, comment with your tricks to help your compatriots.
“Going to” not “Want to”
Writing » Guest Post, Inspirational, TipsAugust 14th, 2008
A guest post from a new writing accomplice, Zoe Winters. She writes to encourage you to find your dream and follow through, using the television show The Biggest Loser as a classic example. So read on, and tell us your dreams!
One of my heroes is Ali Vincent. If you don’t know who this is, she was the winner of the last season of “The Biggest Loser,” a weight loss reality show. Midway through the season she was eliminated, though the show planned to bring back a couple of contestants from home who earned it.
In the elimination room right after she was eliminated she said: “I am going to be the next biggest loser.” And she said it with such conviction, that though most of us thought she was loopy, we believed her a little bit. She became the underdog. When she was brought back on the show, she became a favorite for the win.
Stumbling Blocks, Workshops, and a Contest
General » Editing, Giveaway, Tips, Work-in-ProgressJuly 24th, 2008
“Nobody’s perfect, I gotta work it again and again ’til I get it right…”
Nobody’s Perfect sung by Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus
Well, Hannah Montana’s right on the money with this one. This song should be the theme for all writers in the editing phase.
I’m holding an online editing workshop next week to contribute to Lynn Viehl’s Left Behind & Loving It (LB&LI) convention. I’ll tackle a different facet of editing each day. At the end of the week, I’ll give a free critique of the first three chapters (or the first 50 pages, whichever is shorter) of one commenter whose name I will pull from a hat.
Inspiration from Clever Television
General » Character Development, Fun, Tips, Writer's BlockJuly 22nd, 2008
I’m an information junkie, and I blame that on my belief that everything has an influence on my writing. Because of this, I choose my television and movie choices carefully (most of the time). If I listed my favorite tv series, a pattern of character-driven plots will emerge (The Office, Gilmore Girls, 30 Rock…), which makes sense because my fiction is character-driven. Maybe I should watch shows that are more about the plot, so I don’t have blindspots? In any case, today I’m writing about one show and one movie that inspire my creative juices, and I hope you’ll share yours!
Researching Your Setting Using Google Earth
Writing » Research, Setting, TipsJuly 8th, 2008
If anything is lacking in my research, it’s details about setting. Not for lack of trying, though; it’s something I tend to obsess about, if you’ll remember, but the resources about my little village is sparse at best.
Enter Google Earth. I finally caved in and installed the free application on my computer. This, despite my misgivings that I would waste hours studying the landscape rather than studying how the structure of a material changes depending on the number of vacancies at the atomic level. (I’m so glad I graduated.) Heaven help me, I was at the computer for two hours squealing about all the little physical details that, without technology, I would have had to journey to the UK to see it myself.
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