Your Writing Matters: How a Book Saved My Life
Autumn always makes me thankful. Maybe it’s because of Thanksgiving. Maybe it’s because of a memory of a remote cabin in the middle exploding fall colors. Maybe it’s the reminder that I have more to be thankful for than most. I’m thankful for books. Because one saved my life. When people ask me why I began writing,…
Read MoreWhat Writers Can Learn from Songs
I was chatting with an old friend via email this morning, and we were discussing song lyrics. It’s a favorite topic of mine, because I’ve always wanted to write them. After all, they’re just a hugely abbreviated form of writing. Mini Flash Fiction, with poetry thrown in. Extreme write tight! If they can do this…
Read MoreUse Excel to Track Your Novel
Learning how you write a book is like finding your way in a pitch black room full of furniture. You can learn by barking your shins, but there are less painful ways. Hopefully, this post will help. I’m an organized person, so it would make me crazy trying to locate details in my WIP. Which…
Read More3 Writing Lessons Learned from a Robotic Vacuum
Years ago, I had back surgery. After I healed, I went back to Domestic Goddess duties, but found I couldn’t vacuum anymore. Something about the pushing and pulling killed my back. So I informed Alpha Dog (did I mention he’s also Texan?) that this duty would have to fall to him. He didn’t disagree, but…
Read MoreThe Dreaded Dialogue Tag
Okay, I admit it. I’m prejudiced against dialogue tags. Yes, I know they say, ‘He said/she said’ are invisible to the reader. They’re not to me. Even if you don’t share my pet peeve, why settle for something so boring? You write a sparkling line of dialogue, and slap ‘he said’ on the end? Why…
Read MoreSocial Media: You’re Doing it Wrong
Everyone has seen Mr. Mom, right? My favorite line from the whole movie is when Michael Keaton is dropping his kids off at school, pulling into the circular drive against traffic, and like four moms tell him, “You’re doing it wrong.” Look, I’m not saying I’m the Mother of Social Media (although I’m probably old enough…
Read MoreWho Needs Secondary Characters?
I don’t know about you, but I can’t write a book without secondary characters. Yes, I’ve read books without them (or ones where they had tiny roles), but I can’t write that way. I’ve never gotten over my crush – how about you? I mean, where would The Lion King be without the hyenas? Where…
Read MoreDoes an Extroverted Writer Have the Advantage? Maybe Not
I’ve read a lot of blogs lately by introverted writers pointing out how hard it is for them, nowadays. There are probably more introverted authors than extroverts. After all, it’s darned near a cliché – the writer living in seclusion, typing away in obscurity. That’s all you see in movies: As Good as it Gets, Something’s Gotta Give – even, dare…
Read MoreThe No-Stress Way To Create Your Story’s Logline
I love loglines. There’s no better feeling than pulling together words that capture the spirit of your book in a perfect, compelling way. I teach a submissions class for the Lawson Writer’s Academy and find that loglines are a major source of stress for my students. Have you ever noticed that loglines are only fun to come up…
Read MoreWord Play – Unleash Your Inner Writing Child
Think back. Waaaay back, to when you first decided you wanted to write. You sat down, maybe at a computer, maybe with a pen and napkin, or even (in my case) on the back of a motorcycle, and wove a story in your head. Remember how excited you were? Everything seemed possible. You had the…
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