This post is part of the #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop. You’ll find many more posts for writers with tips, information about reading and writing at the hop. Just click here and join the discussion. I’ve been in a #writer’s slump for the last several months. Click To Tweet I finished a manuscript that I’m sending out now for […]
How to Release Your Subconscious. #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop
The left side of our brain is always working away. It interferes with almost all our daily thoughts. That’s where our logical thinking exists. It’s where most writers spend the majority of their time. Particularly if they are in the editing mode. In fact, without the critical thinking of our left brains, we’d never be […]
Creating Characters that Walk off the Page #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop
Recently I hosted a little gathering at our local library and talked about my books and fiction writing. One of the questions I was asked during the workshop was how do I make my characters seem so real? What are the secrets to creating characters that seem to walk off the page? All of us […]
Writers as Lone Wolves with Lots of People in Their Heads
Most #writers spend their days in solitary work #amwriting Click To Tweet They sludge away at their computers, coming out for brief interactions with the fridge. Their thoughts day and night center around their characters and what they are up to. There’s never a dull moment even though their days look dull from the outside. […]
A Writer’s Desk or a Cat’s Meow?
Here’s a photo of my writer’s desk #amwriting Click To Tweet What do you think? Conducive to writing? I don’t think a lot about my writing environment, but it is important to occasionally stop and take a look around. Many writers have to have quiet in order to go inside themselves and into the world […]
Tips for Writing from your Imagination
I recently finished reading, My Name is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Stout. This Pulitzer-Prize-winning author created a compelling story in this new novel. I plan to review it next week. Meantime, I wanted to examine how writers write from their imagination. Terry Gross on the nationally acclaimed radio program, Fresh Air, asked Stout if the […]
A Time to Work and a Time to Rest
The creative mind cannot work in a pressure cooker #writingtips Click To Tweet If we want people to come up with new ideas or create exciting stories for books and films, we must allow them time to rest and sleep as well as work. Perhaps we’ve always known this truth. Often people ask writers about […]
Can #Writers Break the Rules? You BetCha!
As a reader, I love it when writers break the so-called rules #amreading #writingtips Click To Tweet The more seasoned writers get creative with point-of-view without violating the main principles. They use more wordy expressions than I might and they challenge the basic rules we all hear–like not writing prologues. Sometimes there are so many […]
Unconventional Uses of Point-of-View
In my last post, I talked about how to avoid abusing point-of-view. Head-hopping is the worst possible way to write #writingtips #amwriting Click To Tweet I call it cheap writing because the author simply jumps from head to head. It is easy and takes no creativity. When forced to stay in one head or in […]
The Durrells in Corfu. Lessons about Confidence and Taking Risks
I’ve been watching a new #Masterpiece series, #DurrellsPBS in Corfu #TV @masterpiecepbs Click To Tweet It’s the story about how a young widow and her four children pack their bags and leave England for the island of Corfu. The oldest of the Durrell children is Lawrence Durrell (Larry to his family). He is a […]