Building a Writing Routine

rou·tine  /ro͞oˈtēn/ performed as part of a regular procedure rather than for a special reason. Note, I didn’t use the term, ‘habit’.  A habit is an impulse to do a behavior with little or no conscious thought. Not doing a habit feels uncomfortable, like not washing your hands after using the toilet or not flossing…

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A Tool to Protect You and Your Writing in Hard Times

Okay, let’s have an honest discussion here. We’ve been at this pandemic thing for over a year now. We’ve been sick, terrified, and TP deprived. We’ve been nowhere since we can remember, and if it weren’t for Netflix, we’d have totally lost our shit long ago. And that’s not even counting the chaos in our…

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Writing Routines for the New Year

I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. Maybe because, though I’ve made a ton of them,  I have never kept one. I mean, saying I’m going to do something doesn’t get it done, right? I’m more a fan of changing my routine to accommodate a lifestyle change. I’m not sure I’m a good example…

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Flash Fiction – Just for Fun

  I wrote a post a while ago, on why you should write Flash Fiction – you can read it HERE. I enjoy the heck out of it – it’s like cleansing my palette between projects…cleans out the old plots and leaves my mind clear for the next. Then Sherry Gross told me about NYC…

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3 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…

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Use Comparison for Power

Laura Drake Description, run-on words, similes and metaphors are all ways to get your meaning across to your reader. I got the first two, but metaphors and similes….they were a bit fuzzy (school was a looooong time ago for me). Until I watched this scene from Renaissance Man, with Danny DeVito (if you’ve never seen…

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Advanced Craft Tips

I do a lot of critiquing. As I get better at craft, I’m starting to catch the nuances of good writing; things beyond the basics of POV, show don’t tell, etc. They’re subtler and harder to spot, but I believe they can be the difference between a ‘good writer’ and a popular author. And yes,…

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Nail That First Line!

I just taught a class on  Beginning Pages recently, so I’ve been thinking a lot about first lines.  Stephen King had something to say about the magnitude of a novel’s first line: “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story,” he said. “It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about…

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Motifs and Symbols and Themes – Oh My!

I love almost all literary devices, but the three in this post’s title are my favorites. I’m sure you heard of them, and have probably used them in your writing, but you may not know the definitions, so here they are: Motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition,…

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