Category: Creative Process

February 22, 2016

A Character by Any Other Name Wouldn’t Be an Excuse

It’s amazing what excuses people will come up with when they’re trying to avoid starting a story, but having trouble naming the character shouldn’t be one. A student tried that one on me the other day. He said that he was supposed to write a story that was 2 pages long (the horror!). With a put-upon sigh, he explained how he...

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February 16, 2016

Plotting & Progress Aren’t Mutually Exclusive

I tend to forget how much I like plotting. The adrenaline rush of figuring out the twists and turns, the superior feeling that comes from tying up loose ends, the thrill of realizing the perfect spot to sneak in a red herring: that’s all forgotten about 2 chapters in. See, once I get into writing the story, plotting starts to...

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February 6, 2016

5 Ways to Improve Your Writing with Improv Exercises

Have you ever done an improv exercise as part of a camp or icebreaker? If you did, you probably thought it was either 1. hilarious, energizing, and fun OR 2. ridiculously hard, stressful, and embarrassing. Well, that’s improv for you. As a rule, improvisation training involves intense scenarios, fast-paced responses, and a lot of strained brain cells – which is...

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January 31, 2016

Good Grammar & Tired Brains Don’t Mix

If you want your writing to have decent grammar, it’s better to do it when you’re conscious (the brain, at least, should be awake). As obvious as that seems, when you’re trying to cram in writing with a full time job, family, friends, car repairs, etc., it’s not the easiest rule to stick to. There are plenty of writers who...

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January 30, 2016

Writer’s Block Isn’t Real Except When We Want It to Be

If you look up “writer’s block,” you’ll probably get something like “the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing” (at least, according to Google). Generally summarized, it’s the brain dead moment when you look at the screen and go, “Uhhhhhh….” The only problem with that definition is that most published authors...

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January 11, 2016

Have You Ever Painted Yourself into a Corner?

Or mopped, for that matter. You know, where you don’t think ahead, and by the time you reach the final corner of the room there’s nowhere for you to stand? Let alone get out of that corner without ruining everything you did? Surprisingly (or not), this is a great metaphor for writing: don’t write yourself into a corner. To give...

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January 8, 2016

The Stuff An Author’s Dreams & Nightmares Are Made Of

The greatest power and the greatest terror of being an artist is the amount of ourselves that we put into our art. As good as our imaginations are, they are powered by our dreams and our nightmares: experiences, hopes, wishes, fears, and more. Our lives. Our souls. We expose little bits of ourselves with each piece we create. Yet at the...

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January 1, 2016

The Only New Year’s Resolutions A Writer Really Needs

I can almost make that generalization and believe it because these 3 resolutions are adjustable, which makes them good for writers at all stages. I suppose an individual writer might need another resolution (like “pay the bills”), but these 3 are pretty good.  3. Publish Submit to a magazine, contest, or book publisher. Self-publish an ebook. Write a blog. Do what you need to...

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December 6, 2015

What’s in a Name? (Besides Headaches, Heartaches, & Trouble)

Writing is hard. Writing regularly is harder. Doing both well is harder still. Despite all of that, naming what you’ve written can somehow be even worse. Sure, it’ll depend on the day and the piece, but naming stories, poems, plays, or songs can be a serious headache. There’s so much pressure. The title has to capture the idea of the piece...

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December 4, 2015

Falling off the Wagon of Writing Daily

After I posted yesterday, I realized that I’d given the impression that writing daily is an addiction. Once you start, you just can’t stop. That’s how addictions work, right? The addiction part is true. The second part? Not so much. Writing is work. No matter how much you love it, no matter how naturally it comes to you, it’s work...

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