Hi Writers, I babysat my 10-month-old grandson George one day this week, as I do most weeks, and as he gets older and more mobile I’m struck by one thing: his determination. He’ll attempt to climb on his rocking moose, for instance, but miss and plop on the floor. Up he scrabbles again. Then he […]
Sitting in church yesterday, one word kept popping out at me, even though the message wasn’t really focused on it. And that word was joy. I kept thinking about it in terms of writing. I wondered: where’s the joy in it? Lord knows, writing is a tough business full of rejection and low-paid work. So, […]
After three weeks in France, I’m home again. Even though the Google and my phone still feed me the occasional search result or ad in French, it is nice to be able to understand the language people are speaking around me. (It’s always a shock to land back in a U.S. airport on the journey […]
I’ve been working hard getting clients set for my absence while I’m in France, and I’ve found myself with a bit of time this week. And so I’ve been planning. If there’s one thing I love to do in this life, it is to plan. Give me a calendar or a planner or a workbook […]
If you’re anything like me, the beginning of writing a book is a messy affair. You’ve taken notes like crazy, and they might be anywhere and everywhere. You’ve got nuggets about character buried deep inside a Moleskine, and the best ideas ever for a plot–if only you could find them. I’m all for this chaos […]
No snappy titles today, but I’ve got lots of great writing links for you. So let’s get right to it. Are you trying to ride the news cycle with your current novel? Might not be the best idea. I gotta admit, sometimes I wonder about this: is writing fiction a worthy endeavor? What is your […]
Did I just use the word “hack” in the title? I did. Those of us who have been around for a long time remember when “hack” was a word thrown at writers who had sold out, who wrote crap for money. But now it is more often used (some would say overused) as a synonym […]
I’ve got a bushel full of links for you today, many of them Christmas-related, because, in case you hadn’t noticed, the big day is only five days away. Awk! Excuse me while I go wrap some presents. No, instead I’ll do what I always do when I’m feeling overwhelmed: fart around on the internet. Here […]
To get more writing done, you could get up earlier, or stay up later. To get more writing done you could close the door to your office and post a sign threatening death and dismemberment to anyone who enters. You could escape to the coffee shop or go on a retreat. You could run away […]
And here's one final offering from the archives, back in September of 2012. Yeah, so, you want to write a novel. And you're even thinking of doing Nanowrimo this year. (Nanowrimo = National Novel Writing Month, just in case you don't know, and it's in November.) But then the voices begin: The dreaded blank page. The dreaded […]
