The most common writing advice one ever receives is the obvious one: WRITE. The actual act of putting the words down is more important than everything else -- including blogging and social media, reading educational posts and books, attending courses and conventions, meetings with the writers group. Carve out writing time and protect it. Bum … Continue reading Finding that writing mojo (or shaking the CBF virus)
Writing for kids
As I watch my young nieces and nephews start to develop an appreciation of books and reading, I find myself wanting to write stories for them. Not picture book stories, but novel-length works of the type I would have adored at age 10 or 11. At that age, I had so much time for reading, … Continue reading Writing for kids
Endless editing conundrum
I've thought of another argument against showing your WIP to your writing group: it instills a desire to spend time fine-tuning chapters that shouldn't really be fine-tuned until the entire draft is written. I mean, what's the point in wasting all that time fine-tuning material that you'll probably need to revise later anyway? But, the thing … Continue reading Endless editing conundrum
The WIP and the writing group
This week's musings (a day late, sorry) surround feedback on novel manuscripts -- as in how to get the most out of it. I don't know about other writers, but I rather like to share my work. I'm not necessarily talking about a critical appraisal here, I'm talking about just having it read. In fact, … Continue reading The WIP and the writing group
Horse camp
A familiar trope often found in fantasy stories is the riding of horses as part of a journey or quest. These days the genre is diverse enough that the presence of horses is not inevitable, but many writers (including me) still find this method of transport -- and the idea of journeying across the imagined … Continue reading Horse camp
Ellen Gregory 