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I’m drawn to the dark side of creativity, the fears and phobias we let shut us down. I wasted too many years allowing the blank page to conquer me, doubting each word of every story, and worse, waiting for permission from others to call myself a writer. Now, I’m almost on a mission to save others from those painful mistakes because they’re both unnecessary and abusive.
There are just three times when fear will try to stop you from writing…
All writers seem to have this problem. We all have those half-finished projects: books, blogs, wooden chairs.
On my computer I actually have a folder of “Unfinished Blogs.” If you’re like me, finishing projects is always a struggle, especially books, which are the hardest projects to finish. Recently I’ve buckled down to finish several major projects, including my first book, and I’ve learned a few things about finishing your writing along the way.
Have you ever felt desperate? Not desperate to find disposable diapers at midnight when you realized you just used the last one and your baby has diarrhea? And not desperate to find your car keys. I mean desperate to find a way for your hero to escape the wooden box sinking in the middle of the ocean desperate.
As your character sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and as the air supply at the top of the wooden box gets smaller you grab your head in your hands and pace the floor frantic to save your hero’s life before his air supply runs out.
You try jumping jacks to stimulate oxygen to your brain. You do a google search for ideas to break writer’s block and then do you everything they suggest.
I know how it is. It’s a three-day weekend. You get caught up in the barbecues, the family time, the sunshine, the sales at the mall… and whatever else. You sleep in and soak it up.
Then Tuesday morning comes, you drag yourself out of bed, and as you sip that cup of coffee you realize, oh man, you haven’t even thought about that manuscript for an entire three days.
As writers, a good portion of our time seems to be dedicated to waiting. You wait to hear back from agents, you wait for contest results, you wait on e-mail replies, you wait for your critique partners to read your projects, etc. And if you’re like me and aren’t the most patient person, the waiting can be hard.
A pitch session is a five to ten minute period of uninterrupted time with an agent. Here’s how to make the most of that opportunity.
I’ve been thinking today about what makes a setting like Hogwarts so great.
We’ve all spent a lot of time at school, many years of our lives. School is familiar, relatable, “homey.”
Thus it makes perfect sense to set a young adult novel series in a school. And many writers have done this, not just J.K. Rowling.
I’ve started a new novel, as in a blank page 1 in need of 275 – 400 more pages written to be complete. I’m lucky, because this book is second in a series, so I already have the plot and framework in mind (sort of ). I just require about 70,000+ more words to fill in the blanks.
It’s so simple, but difficult to do.
Fortunately, I’ve completed four other novels and will publish book #4 later this year. I’m trying to apply what I’ve learned in the past to remain more sane this go-round. Let’s discuss three pitfalls I’ve learned with first drafts.
I was a junior in High School when I was first introduced to satire. I had been affluent in sarcasm for some time, but it was in my AP English class that I first became very, very confused.
It’s May, which means we’ve hit the beginning of the summer blockbuster season! Explosions, car chases, larger-than-life heroes—what could be more fun? It's enough to inspire a writer to write one for herself (at least, this writer). But whether on the screen, or the...
