Last night I dreamed I was tucked away in the hills of Tuscany, far from Internet connections and traffic sounds. I looked out the window from the small tiled-roofed house where I sat amongst soft chairs and an ancient typewriter. Outside, I breathed in the smells of honeysuckle and lilac. Beautiful Bouganvilla draped over the […]
How about that Perfect First Draft?
When writers tell me that they hardly edit their work, I cringe. Before I knew more about the creative process, I thought I was the only one who had to work and work to get my drafts decent enough to send out. Now I know that few people, even the best writers, write a first […]
Creativity versus or not versus Editing
When does the creative edge fall by the wayside to that little editor’s voice in your head? One of my biggest writing problems is that I love to just let it flow. Often the characters develop minds of their own and go off on tangents to suit themselves (not my plan or plot). At times […]
Let’s Talk Villains
How bad do we make our villains? As a writer, I sometimes find the villains in the stories I read more compelling than the good-guys. What about you, do you agree? One of the best villains I’ve run across was in Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd. This villain was pretty awful. He was a hired […]
First Sentence Launches Your Novel
Wouldn’t it be nice to get some feedback on your first sentence–that all important sentence that launches your novel? Why not? I’m sure that some fellow writers out there could give me some advice and I’m also sure that some fellow readers could throw in their two cents. We know that the first paragraph of […]
Some Tips to Write Tight
I’m continuing to learn about writing every day. To re-work my current manuscript, I’m learning how to write tight. I’m having a wonderful time reducing my word count. Here are some tips: Omit all the adjectives and adverbs you can. When you have two adjectives or adverbs, reduce it down to one. Or, eliminate them […]
