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Tag Archives: writing
Nov
26
Brain Freeze
This awesome image is by Natalia and you can get it on a T-Shirt here! It’s a pretty good representation of my own mind at the moment. Mostly because I’ve got a number of things being juggled, but also because I suddenly find myself with ideas and no place to put them. And most of them are unrelated, so then it becomes a matter of prioritizing – what can I get done and what’s a pipe dream, and what just needs to be back-burnered until such time that it makes sense to work on it. Like, I have this concept that could make a really funny, tongue-in-cheek game or comic…but I’m not sure where or how I’d pitch it. (I *could* write it up as a series of short stories or something, but honestly, everything I’m imagining definitely requires a more visual medium.) And okay, yes, I’ve got friends in…
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Nov
19
Writing Voice
In cleaning Lucy’s room this weekend, I came across her 1st grade journal – basically it’s one of those class things where the students are required to write about something every day. Most of Lucy’s entries are an odd mix of things – wanting to be a Ninja or a werewolf or some random ramblings about trees and how happy she is that there aren’t any that have been cut down around our house. It’s funny, because in meeting with her teacher this year, there was a lot of talk about her writing “voice” and how distinct it is. Which is one of those elusive things authors tend to talk about – no matter how good a writer’s grasp is on story or plot, you can’t really teach voice. It’s something you have or you don’t, although I believe it can certainly be cultivated – it’s the unique thing about…
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Sep
10
Page Count
Even aside from all the issues I’ve had this summer, I had long expected to have this current WIP in to my agent months ago. But the editing road of the panster can be a tricky one and I appear to have added about 100 pages to it in the last few months. Which seems like an awful lot. If I hadn’t, I’d probably be done with the manuscript by now…but I’m only halfway there, as a result. However, those pages need to be there. As most of you know, pacing is pretty important when it comes to a book. Too slow and you lose your audience to snoresville. Too fast and the payoff feels cheapened. (The protag has to earn what she gets – and in my case, things were lining up a little too conveniently. Time to shake it up a little, right?) Plus, it’s written in 1st…
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Apr
1
Do-Si-Do
I wish I was talking about the cookies. Sometimes writing is a lot like square dancing. Move a little here. A little there. Next thing you know you’ve come full circle and maybe you’re back where you started. This past weekend I got hung up on a scene. It’s one of those times where it’s a bummer being a panster. It caught me a little off guard because usually when I get stuck I tend to just jot down a quick note of what I need to change when I come back for edits and keep plugging away as though I’ve already made that change. But this time around that wasn’t working. The overall concept of the scene was okay, but eventually I realized it needed to be reversed. Part of that is because I’d written myself into a corner, but also the balance of the action was skewed. Tension…
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Mar
13
Stuck
Last night was a miserable night for writing. I was already in an ugly mood for reasons I can’t quite figure out. Maybe it’s the time change. Maybe it’s the pain meds. Maybe I’m just grumpy. Anyway. Stuck on a scene in this new book. Been stuck on it for about a week. It’s an important scene – one of the major turning points for the story. And I know where I want it to go…but my characters are balking. It’s always a bad sign when they just start posturing at each other and flapping their gums. It’s also bad when the main character decides she wants to use her hammer to cave in the head of the possible future love interest instead of talking to him, but I digress. Normally I’d take a few days away from it and maybe go write something else, or read or play games…but…
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