There’s more to writing than just the writing. Like, staring off into space. Taking a nap to refresh your brain after all its hard toil. Going to the kitchen to look for a snack. Deciding what you really need is to take a walk. Or drink a glass of wine. Okay, maybe those aren’t the […]
I finished the rewrite on my novel last week and sent it off. And so what does a writer do next? Why, start the next novel, of course. But in my case, I am going back to a novel. Here’s the story. I have a full-length novel and a loooong novella languishing on my computer. […]
Once I had a writing friend who set her computer screensaver to show the words, “Why aren’t you writing?” And, indeed, that is the question, isn’t it? It is the question at the heartbeat of a writer’s days. Why aren’t you writing? Why are you watching TV when you could be writing? Why are you […]
I’m sitting at a table on a terrace in Ceret, France, thinking about writing processes. (That’s my view in the photo to the left.) Okay, I’m also thinking about the wine and cheese and bread we’ll have for dinner. And taking a walk through the charming town in a little bit. And the delicious quiche […]
I spent this just-past Thanksgiving weekend at the beach with a rotating cast of family members in attendance. It was a blast. And, I got some writing done. I woke up early every day and sat at the dining room table and wrote on my laptop. (It helped immeasurably that the house has no wi-fi.) […]
Tuesday is Independence Day in the states. Yesterday was Canada Day in, um, Canada, which I think has something to do with becoming a country but I couldn’t quite tell from the Wikipedia page. (Forgive me Canadians, and perhaps one of you could enlighten me?) The idea of independence and freedom is afoot in the […]
(I’m experimenting with posting my weekly newsletter here on the blog as well. If you’d like to have it delivered right to your inbox, fill out the form to the right. I will never do anything untoward with your information!) Yesterday it was 97 here. Today it is forecast to be the same. Now I […]
I’m going back through the second draft of my WIP novel, checking for places where I have to drop things in. Most of these are little things, like another mention of a physical object that figures in the plot (in this case, a necklace), or pumping up a description that didn’t get fully mounted on […]
Fingers crossed for a nice weekend! Here’s what’s going on: What I’m Reading: Same books as last week, which I can’t divulge, because I’m reading for a contest. But I also have occasion to load up my Kindle with Ebooks because I read while baby George naps on my chest. So I have been perusing […]
I know. This is like, the ten thousandth blog post you’ve read on Nanowrimo. I wrote one myself (well, okay, it was sort of about the election, too), and there’s another good one here. But, here’s the deal. As the headline promised, I’ve been reminded of some helpful core truths about the writing practice […]
