I am really looking forward to 2013. I have no idea why the arbitrary transition from one year to the next should mean anything, but it does, and I always find myself identifying new challenges and revising goals (once I'm done reflecting on the year that was)... Often my plans for a new year involve a scrambling … Continue reading 2013 is here — let’s get to it!
Recap on a year of Word Wrangling
Last year I made a single New Year's Resolution: finish a first draft of the novel I've been working on. Hmm. I did make substantial progress on it though. In fact I'm fairly certain I wrote the most number of words I've ever achieved in a calendar year. So, although I didn't precisely finish it, … Continue reading Recap on a year of Word Wrangling
The secret ingredient to productivity
They say one of the keys to being successful at any creative endeavour is perseverance. Discipline comes in handy too. Yeah yeah, there are also talent and self-belief, but they're very hard to control... There is another secret ingredient I've come to value very highly over the years -- and that's friends. More specifically, friends … Continue reading The secret ingredient to productivity
Word of the day: Cunctator
Cunctator noun: One who hesitates; a procrastinator or delayer When I saw this word hit my inbox (from A.Word.A.Day) last week, I knew I had to share it -- even if only as a reminder to myself that I must not embody its meaning. This evening, however, I fear I deserve it as a descriptor. … Continue reading Word of the day: Cunctator
New year’s #WIP500 resolution
My resolution for this new year is very simple. I'm going to complete the draft of the novel I'm currently working on. Of course, execution of this goal is unlikely to be simple. The longer I persevere with this fiction writing habit, the harder it seems to get. Possibly this is because I demand more of myself as time goes … Continue reading New year’s #WIP500 resolution
More on writers and platform pressure
Oh my, the debate about writers and platform expectations is still raging. Over the past couple of days I've spent hours knee-deep in blog posts and reader comments, my little introvert heart pounding with apprehension. (Hours not writing, I might add...) Rachelle Gardner's post on Wednesday talked about the need to quantify the size of … Continue reading More on writers and platform pressure
What I get out of blogging
Today I'm going to muse on a topic that has been floating around the writing industry blogosphere the past week or so -- which is what writers get out of blogging and how big a 'platform' novelists need in order to sell books (or to even be considered for publication by the larger publishers). Anne R Allen … Continue reading What I get out of blogging
On writing & discipline
It is an unequivocal truth that novels do not write themselves. Irrespective of how many words a writer can produce in an hour, or how many hours in a day (or even a week) can be made available to write, the fact remains that every single word and every single minute counts. Today I am mostly concerned … Continue reading On writing & discipline
Good advice
Last week I stumbled upon Anne R. Allen's Blog and she has some incredibly sensible things to say about writers and blogging. Her series of posts on blogging (highlighted in her side bar) covers tips on content, search-engine optimisation, pitfalls to avoid . . . and how to attract readers. Highly recommended reading. On the … Continue reading Good advice
Lure of the blog maze
These days a great many writing resources -- particularly in the form of blogs -- can be found on the Interwebs. There are blogging agents, blogging editors, blogging authors, not to mention blogging aspirants, by the bucketload. These blogs all take different forms: some are instructional, filled with great advice; others contain well thought-out essays on aspects of genre; many are … Continue reading Lure of the blog maze
E V Gregory 