Let me start with a disclaimer. I tried NaNoWri National Novel Writing Month once about six years ago. I wound up stopping about halfway through with a tangled mess. It taught me that I really have to have one scene written up to the level of a semi-polished draft before moving on. But it was the … More Some Advice for Those in NaNoWriMo
I wrote up a writing prompt for My Word Playground. It shares my technique for putting two or more characters together and letting them interact without worrying about trying to build a scene complete with action and dialogue. I enjoyed checking out writer Lynne Marie’s playground while I tried to figure out what I wanted to write about. This … More Letting Your Characters Talk
Usually, when I’m having trouble moving ahead with a novel, I use a variation of Natalie Goldberg’s cafe writing that she shared in WRITING DOWN THE BONES. But yesterday, I decided that I wanted to write on patio of our backyard garden while our waterfall splashed and gurgled in the background. I brought coffee. (I’d trained myself … More Writing the Scene that Doesn’t Want to Be Written
Every writer has a different way of attacking a project. I like to write scenes by hand in a cafe first. I follow Natalie Goldberg’s strategy that she shared in her book, WRITING DOWN THE BONES. This is my shortened adaptation of her technique. I go to a local coffee shop like the Main Street … More A Semi-polished Rough Draft of Chapter 3: Done!
Late last week one of my writing friends sent out a notice. Somehow she missed the fact that she was supposed to bring a completed novel to a master class with Linda Sue Park at the SCBWI National Conference. Clearly this was a writing emergency that required drastic measures. Lynnea decided to embark on a … More NaNoWriMo in July
I was going through the comments that my friend Gina made on my SCARAB manuscript when I found the following: “Kate presses her lips together quite a bit. Check for this.” Using the search function on my computer, I did just that. Not only did Kate press her lips together quite a bit, she and a few … More A Pressing Problem
How much is that griffin in the window It had been a long day in Siena. My family and I were walking along the Via Terme back to the Blue SITA buses when I saw him in the store window: a griffin clutching a ball. I stopped and stared. A larger version of this creature … More My Griffin
