Indecision is my downfall. If I know where I’m going next in my writing, it is no problem to sit down to my computer and get words on the page. I can wrack up a good word count in no time. But if I’m not quite sure what to write next, forget about it. My […]
The other night, my husband and I watched an episode of Scorpion, which I’d only see bits and pieces of before and ended up thoroughly enjoying. The show is about a band of misfit computer experts led by Katherine McPhee, who is their interface and explainer of the real world. In this episode, a helicopter […]
I’ve been working with one of my clients, who shall remain nameless (Hi, Mitch!) to trim down his long middle grade fantasy. Clocking in at over 140,000 words it is, as I said, long. Meanwhile, I recently set out to write a short story. Apparently, I have a hard time writing anything short. The story […]
Writers are introverts, for the most part. We sit in a room by ourselves (except for all the fictional characters crowding our heads) working and we like it. (At my husband’s work Christmas party this year, I had a long drunken conversation with a woman who couldn’t imagine actually wanting to sit down to write. […]
This is an embarrassing confession from a writing coach, but last fall I got blocked on a project. I was working on the rewrite of a novel for my agent. She and her staff had given me excellent revision suggestions and I was excited about them. But part of it involved giving the protagonist more […]
The Abundant Writer September 3, 2017 Vol 10. No. 36 Here in the Portland area, it is back-to-school time. (I know in many parts of the country this happened weeks ago.) And it is one of my favorite times of the year. (There is the fact that I’ll be spending most of the month in […]
Sometimes you just have to take a step back. I’m a big believer in honoring one’s own creative process, whatever it might be and however it works. (You’ve probably noticed that if you’ve read much on this blog.) And one of the things I’ve realized about my own process is that sometimes I just need […]
Yesterday I wrote about resistance. But today I’m writing about its opposite, letting go. Which is funny, right? Like life is funny. Anyway, here’s the deal. This past weekend, the hub and I took an overnight trip to Eugene, a hundred-ish miles down the road from Portland, and home of one of my alma maters, […]
The best way I can answer the question of the title is to tell you two stories, the stories of my two attempts to get a literary agent. Attempt to get an agent #1 The first story happened back around 2011-2012. I was seeking representation for my novel, Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior. Over the course […]
So, I didn’t blog last week. It was, um, because of the malware attack. No, wait, I meant the constant stream of news out of Washington. No, here’s the truth: It was the one-armed man. Heavy sigh. Okay, it was none of those. I just got overwhelmed. I’m in Week Two of my Do That […]
