Monthly Archive: September, 2015

September 30, 2015

Recommended Reading: Evan Pickering’s “The Single Greatest Strength of Any Writer”

I guess today is a day to talk about the task of writing – what it is and what you need to succeed. I came across this great article by Evan Pickering, “The Single Greatest Strength of Any Writer.” It’s a good read. Yes, I usually nitpick at any “the one thing you need to be a _____,” but this isn’t...

Categories Creative Process/Grammar & Editing Comments: 2

September 30, 2015

To All Writers

Cut to this length (as it usually is), this powerful quote stands on its own as a kind of toast to writers of all kinds. I first chose it because I like that message and because I thought it was an interesting way to introduce the idea of different forms of writing. Once I found the original interview, however, I...

Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Inspiration/Poetry/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

September 29, 2015

A Quick Author Page Tutorial from Ana Spoke

This is an excerpt of a “Look who’s got a proper author page!” by Ana Spoke. In these paragraphs, she discusses setting up an author page on Amazon and Goodreads as well as linking them to her regular blog. She provides a first-hand overview and some links that will give you the details, so it’s a pretty good resource to mark to save...

Categories Writer Resources Comment: 1

September 28, 2015

Don’t Count on Word Count Too Much

Word count can have a big impact on your work and how it can be sold. Besides defining whether your piece is a short story, novella, or novel, the number of words will most likely dictate where you can publish the story and how much you will be paid for it. If you’re writing for a specific publisher or pay...

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/General Thoughts & Updates Comments: 0

September 27, 2015

A Bit of Humor for Your Sunday

Categories Humor & Wordplay/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

September 26, 2015

50 Word Short Story: They Call Him The Philosopher

This short story is today’s post from my writing experiment, twytte, where I have challenged myself to write and post something every day for a year (cue panicked/overwhelmed yell). Ok, so the idea has a few built-in problems, but otherwise, so far, so good! Nothing improves writing like practice, right? Right?!  “They Call Him The Philosopher” Concrete gets to be...

Categories General Thoughts & Updates Comment: 1

September 26, 2015

Pandemic Homophone Problems

All the homophone errors in this list are basically puns, but the people using them don’t know that. Most likely, people who make these errors have only heard the originals (not read them) and approximated what they heard with words they knew. Or they heard it from someone else who’d already done that. This idea is one reason why the idea...

Categories Grammar & Editing/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comment: 1

September 25, 2015

“Finishing” a First Draft

I think I mentioned before that it took years for me to finish my first novel. Because of all the time and effort I was putting into it, I expected there to be a big, celebratory moment: WOOHOO! I finished my first novel!!! I was looking forward to that moment. I figured I’d go out to dinner with friends, maybe...

Categories Creative Process/General Thoughts & Updates Comments: 0

September 24, 2015

For Want of A Nail, the Plot Was Lost

This old saying is the perfect example of how simple, everyday problems can derail the big picture.

Categories Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

September 23, 2015

Don’t Forget the Everyday

When you’re focused on the big picture of the plot, it’s easy to forget that the character has a normal life that’s been put aside for this adventure – little things that have to happen every day for life to go on. When the author ignores everyday life completely, however, the story gets a bit surreal and less believable. I...

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Creative Process/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques/Research & Worldbuilding Comments: 0