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Posts by Carol Despeaux Fawcett

Dec 13

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What to do on days when your writing takes a back seat to the rest of your life

Some days are just rougher than others. Yesterday was one of them. I woke up at 6:30 and knew I should have gotten out of bed to write for an hour or two before my hubby and the cats were up. But I didn’t. I fell back asleep, waking at 8:30 to a ringing phone and the beginning of my workday.

It was a long day of dealing with the little stuff—answering customer questions, paying bills, compiling marketing lists, shipping, creating content for a product brochure, etc. But despite giving my all to every task (and doing a damn good job, by the way), I was left feeling underappreciated and devalued. It was a sucky kind of day.

So, at the end of my workday, instead of killing somebody, I made a list of alternatives: Read more

Dec 11

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Gifts for the writer in your life

I can’t believe it’s the holiday season again. Seems like it was just yesterday! If you still need holiday gift ideas for the writer in your life, below are a few of my favorites. And if you are a writer…feel free to forward this post to your loved ones. Hint. Hint.

Writing Journals

Whether we type our masterpieces directly on the computer or write by hand, we need notebooks and journals to keep track of our thoughts. My favorites are the moleskine notebooks (there are many different colors and sizes so buy your writer more than one).

I also love the Spirit of Flight Journals. Type “writing journals” or “writing notebooks” in your search engine, and you’ll have plenty to choose from. Read more

Dec 5

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The art of writing dialogue: Don’t listen to everyday conversations

I’ve heard people who teach writing give advice that if you want to write good dialogue to eavesdrop on people’s conversations in coffee shops, train stations, and other public places.

Personally, I think writing mentor Robert McKee’s advice is more accurate: only eavesdrop on people’s conversations if you want to learn how NOT to write good dialogue. Read more

Dec 3

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Translating Nanowrimo success into your daily writing life

Congratulations to everyone who completed NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month– where writers around the world commit to writing a 50,000-word novel during the month of November)!  This was the first year I completed NaNoWriMo. I started it last year, but gave up after falling behind in my first week.

The best part of the entire process was learning more about who I am as a writer.

Before NaNoWriMo, I suffered constant interruptions (both business and personal) that left me with many days, often leading into weeks, where no writing got done.  With NaNoWriMo on my calendar for the month of November, I cleared the decks and made announcements among my family and friends of my intentions. I pictured clear skies and smooth sailing for my journey. Nobody would interrupt me and nothing would get in my way. Read more

Nov 29

Research made easy: the five-click Google

Writers are fantastic procrastinators. We push papers, arrange paperclips, make those gigantic rubber band balls, and get sucked into the internet faster than the Roadrunner can outrun Mr. Coyote. We use any excuse to delay actually doing what we’re supposed to be doing: writing.

Research is another example. Yes, sometimes we need to do research for our stories or novels but too many of us can get sucked into that bottomless pit never to emerge again. I can’t count the number of times I’ve logged online to “do a little research” and find myself, hours later, knee deep in the different dialects that skinwalkers use. Read more

Nov 23

Author Salman Rushdie tells how to create realistic fantasy

Salman Rushdie said he always wanted to write a book with a flying carpet in it, and he finally did. He says the way to make a fantastical idea seem real and believable is to ask questions about the nature of the idea and relay the truth of it to your reader.

The 3-minute video below shows the process he goes through to make any idea believable:

Nov 21

Develop your inner story god by asking questions

Someone once told me that in our questions lie the answers. As writers, we know the importance of asking questions. We ask ourselves questions about our story, characters, plot, and even point of view.

Yesterday, I was trying to figure out how to integrate 1st and 3rd person points of view in my current manuscript without it feeling forced or artificial. As I sat in the sauna reading Chris Baty’s NaNoWriMo book “No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days,” I asked myself, “What would it take for this combination of different points of view to work and flow organically from my story?”

I played around with a couple scenarios and then an idea came to me. Instead of giving my protagonist the ability I was going to give her, I thought of another ability that would suit the story better and solve my problem—allowing the 1st and 3rd person points of view to grow naturally from the story. This new ability came from my protagonist’s backstory, was nurtured by her profession and was unusual and unexpected enough to pervert my readers’ expectations. Viola! Story problem solved. Read more

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