NaNoWriMo is underway. For those of you still chugging along – Congratulations! It’s a huge thing to do. It’s funny that we need an outside structure sometimes to make us do what we burn to do. Rather than bemoan the fact, I’m glad that there are so many wonderful structures out in the world to […]
Educational Antagonists: by Angie Powers Read More »
Want a jump start a scene? Try pretending. Pretend you’re the character that you’re trying to write about, and pretend you’re about to go on stage to deliver your lines. What are your lines? Think of three sentences your character would say aloud, and then think of three different people who would respond to these
Understudy’s Recipe: by Devi Laskar Read More »
1) Start loose, just getting words on the page. How is it so easy to forget the magic of that act? How lively are our minds, our imaginations! We cannot shut them up. Stop and listen for a bit. (Try this with children, too–it works miracles against temper tantrums, transforms routine irritation into marvelous conversation.)
Five Steps to a Brilliant Writing Practice: by Elizabeth Stark Read More »
Following Angie Powers’ simply marvelous exercise about shame & sketchy characters on Friday, I want to give a few minutes worth of attention to the notion of reporting. Reporting is not just for journalists and other writers of nonfiction. Reporting is a state of mind: it is “news” gathering, research, and an invaluable skill to attain.
Reporting Live: by Devi Laskar Read More »
Just a quick note today to remind everyone who is whirling through day two of NanoWrimo that the best way to win Nano and have something worth reading later is to plan and the best way to plan is to know your character. I think you can’t know too much about your characters. Some authors
Sketchy Characters to Get You Through NaNoWriMo: by Angie Powers Read More »
It’s that time of year again. The ghosts and goblins and withces have collected enough candy to keep the dentists busy for a long time, the carved pumpkins are being thrown into the compost pile and it’s time for everyone to take off their masks….and write. Today is Nov. 1, the start of NaNoWriMo, the
Day 1 of the rest of your life: by Devi Laskar Read More »
There are certain things that satisfy in and of themselves. If you exercise on a given day, you’ve done what you were supposed to do and can check it off your list. If you read for pleasure, you’ve had the pleasure. So, too, other intimate pleasures. They are in and of themselves or part of
Celebrated Chunks: Looking at a Writer’s Schedule: by Elizabeth Stark Read More »
Ok, sports fans the Giants have won the World Series and we can take a day off, in fact, we can take the rest of the year off, because of all that we accomplished and how much we struggled and how we persevered when we were down 3-1 and….wait! wait! what? You mean the Giants
The 3 Bs: by Devi Laskar Read More »
I have just sent my novel draft out to my writing group. Right now, I am in that blissful space between a sense of completion and the harrowing realization that I have so much more work to do. This is where the idea of an asymptote comes in. An asymptote is a line that draws
Getting through getting notes: how to stop feeling like an asymptote: by Angie Powers Read More »
This is the big problem about writing something new: you don’t know everything yet, you may not know what happens in the next chapter, or in the middle of the book, you may not know your ending, or even much of your protagonist. What you do know is the feeling of excitement and that seed
What you know about what you don’t: by Devi Laskar Read More »
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