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Posts from the ‘Writing Life’ Category

Sep 21

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Push forward with your writing dreams even when it’s scary

Sending out a query letter, sharing our writing with a critique group, or even sending a finished manuscript can be scary. The stakes are high: What if we receive negative feedback or are rejected?

It’s easy to get stuck. But doing nothing just breeds more fear, doubt and regret.

What you should know is that for every bad thing that can happen, so can something good. If you’re in a respectful critique group, you’ll hear what’s good about your work, as well as ideas to enhance it. If an agent declines to represent you, you’ll likely receive some bit of feedback that can help you target your proposal differently the next time. Ultimately, you have more information to work with. Read more

Sep 20

Story ideas are everywhere but what is the right one for you?

Story ideas are everywhere but how do you find one that can sustain and excite you through the long process of writing an essay, novel, or even a short story?

Here are three earlier blog posts (including some exercises) to help you find what works for you:

Don’t write what you know, write what sets you free

Write to your white-hot center

Stuck on what to write? Consider these big ideas

Sep 19

Be prepared: Keep a notebook in your kitchen

You’ve heard it before. Always have a notebook in your pocket or purse to jot down those brilliant ideas that don’t conveniently come to you when you’re sitting in your official writing place.

But do you have a notebook in the kitchen? Just like I always seem to think of a perfect new line for a poem or a great name for a character when I’m in the shower, cooking has a way of revealing ideas that have been simmering in my subconscious.

Life has a way of happening in the kitchen. Whenever I have guests over for dinner, it seems like everyone wants to congregate in the kitchen. Some of the most memorable and emotional discussions I’ve had with family have been in the kitchen, while cooking or sitting at the kitchen table eating a meal. All these bits of life are a good source of writing material. Read more

Sep 18

How playtime can give you creative ideas

Lately, I’ve been overworking my left brain. In the last week I’ve had to learn a new software program, learn a new webinar system, prepare and host a webinar, and finish my business taxes, which required me to learn a new form that took three phone calls and one hour to figure out what the taxman wanted.

This morning I’m officially back to living in my right brain and my current work-in-progress. During all my left brain activity, though, I did manage to keep my sanity by taking a few short play breaks.

Here’s one below: a two-minute video of Dusty the house cat who at night turns into Clepto. Watch to the very end to see the funniest part!

Not only did this make me laugh, but it gave me a great idea for a character. Have you seen anything funny or playful lately that sparked a creative idea?

Sep 17

One sure way to get back in your writing groove

Have you ever been in a funk with your writing? Maybe you don’t know where to take your story next. The sentences aren’t clicking into place, and you’re stuck.

Take a break and try this: Read.

I was hooked on reading at a young age, which led to my desire to write.

Reading a good book helps you remember why you wanted to write in the first place. As I read, I often think of solutions to problems in my own writing. I’m inspired by techniques other writers use. Read more

Sep 14

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27 steps to plotting your novel

Writer’s Digest recently offered a webinar on how to plot a novel by the Plot Whisperer, Martha Alderson, that I found very helpful. Alderson has a YouTube channel with 27 short videos for each step of the process.

The first video in the series is below (she says to ignore the barking dog in the background).

If you’d like to view more of her videos, her YouTube channel is: http://www.youtube.com/user/marthaalderson

And the remaining 26 videos for her plot tutorial can be found here.

Enjoy!

Sep 13

From the depths of despair to Pulitzer Prize: One writer’s story

If we didn’t know better, we might read excellent literature and assume that it all flows effortlessly from the writer’s pen.

That “flow state” isn’t the norm for most writers. Some struggling writers become so discouraged they wonder if they’re cut out to be writers. This happened to Pulitzer Prize-winner Junot Diaz when he wrote his first novel. He was stalled. He agonized over his pages. Still, he kept at it for five years. Then he became so discouraged and burned out that he considered another career. But he dug out his manuscript and started in again. He finally published his novel a decade after he first began writing it.

Díaz’s novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. It was named #1 Fiction Book of the Year” by Time magazine and spent more than 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, establishing itself – with more than a million copies in print – as a modern classic. Read more

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