Have you participated in NaNoWriMo, which means National Novel Writing Month? The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. You send your inner critic on vacation to Hawaii and you write to reach that word count. Does it seem like an impossible task? I’ve participated for about 10 years […]
Meet With Your Muse On Sundays
Do you use a few minutes on Sundays to reflect on the preceding week and prepare for the six days ahead? When I do, magical events happen. I don’t plan step-by-step procedures or specific outcomes. I envision happy feelings and a-hah surprises. For instance, I’m behind in studying a speaking program with […]
Look For The Promise In A Story
In my writing class today, we talked about the story’s promise. A few members brought in novels and read the promise on the first page, often in the first paragraph. I asked if the author followed up with the promise to the end. They assured me the authors did. The examples were across genres, a […]
Content Is Key For Success In Writing
Content well written and with passion is the key for success in writing. Successful content might be determined by the reasons you write. Why do you write? For money For fame For entertainment To inspire To spark curiosity To inform To heal Maybe you have other reasons, however, if your intentions are to have […]
Hada’s Fog Chapter Eleven, Scene One is Posted
Hada’s Fog Chapter Eleven, Scene One is posted. Please see the menu above, click and scroll down to the beginning or to where you left off. Hada continues to defend Samuel, her first-born. In case you missed my post about gender and birth order of characters’ siblings, the link is below. That explanation goes for […]
Novel Writing Quotes
Gene Wolfe said, “You never learn how to write a novel. You only learn to write the novel you’re on.” “The protagonist is the character whose fate matters most to the story.” Stephen Koch
Imaginary Friends in Childhood and Novel Characters
In both of my creative writing classes today, we discussed Imaginary friends in childhood and characters in novels we write. About half of the members in each class said they had had imaginary friends when they were young. Some of these friends changed with the situations the child experienced or they were the main characters […]