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You Do You – Take Two
That's right! This is your chance to reimagine your life. Live life in a different place or from a different perspective. Venture into a new environment. Take on a new adventure. Become that "person" you always wanted to be. This is you. Take two!
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The Writing Habit
Writing skills might vary with each individual, but the most successful among them all have one thing in common: they made time to write.
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Writing: It’s Complicated
Each September, I write a New Year post, because for me, the back -to-school schedule feels most like the start of a new year. Teaching for over 30 years will do that for you. This year, however, the landscape looks vastly different to everyone, school or no school, and I’m finding it hard to get motivated. It doesn’t feel like the usual fresh beginning of September. It feels like dragging my feet through yet another day of uncertainty. One bit of advice that has come in handy from time to time is fake it ‘till you make it, and perhaps this is one of those times. So, even though my…
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2020, Fiction, How To Write A Novel: Step by Step, The Writing Life, Writing prompts, Writing quotes
HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL: The Beginning
The WRITER’S OATH I promise solemnly: 1. to write as often and as much as I can, 2. to respect my writing self and 3. to nurture the writing of others. I accept these responsibilities and shall honour them always. Gail Carson Levine – Writing Magic Starting a novel is a daunting task. If you have been following the How To Write a Novel series, you’ll know that we have done some preliminary work with ideas and characters, and outlines. But at some point, you need to begin actually crafting this work that will be at least a couple of hundred pages long. So, let’s get started! At the top…
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Today, Something is Different
Have you ever noticed that, even if you are calm and unflappable as a general rule, one day, someone will do something that annoys you and suddenly you become a crazed maniac, wanting revenge? Today, something is different. Your reaction is completely over-the-top and out of proportion to the crime. It happens. In a Writers’ Digest reference book I found on my shelf titled Crafting Novels and Short Stories, Elizabeth Simms talks about this very thing. Don’t Overlook Everyday Interactions “A chance encounter with a stranger can be powerful enough to transform a moment, a day, or even your life. Just think what you can do in your fiction with…