Writer’s Block

Writer’s Block: Real or Myth?

This week my accountability group is blogging about writer’s block and how we deal with it. Last week’s post on what has writing taught us and what we have learned over the years is also part of our How I Write series. “Is writer’s block real or a myth and how do you deal with…

|

Cyclic in Nature

In the past three years (Gosh, it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long!), I’ve come to realize that my writing process is quite cyclic in nature. This isn’t so much tied to the time of year when I may or may not have more free time, but feels more like one of those buckets…

Focus Point

In photography terms, a focus point refers to the small brackets, lines or circle in the middle of an autofocus point-and-shoot camera’s viewfinder that indicates where the camera is pointing. In broader terms, I like to think of it as what I’m currently putting my energy toward: be it a project, a routine to reinforce…

Where’s my Calgon?

I now have less than a week to finish and submit this short story. EEEEEEK! Where the heck did September go? I’ve been up against multiple deadlines this month and I’d hoped to have this story finished well before now. However, that’s definitely not the way it has worked. The characters have been not cagey,…

Faceless Hero

I’ve been trying to work on a short story at Bria’s instigation. I’ve got a basic plot line and some conflict thrown in. I know what the hero and heroine were like as kids, but now that they’ve grown up, I barely know them any more. I have a general idea of how they’ve changed…

|

Shouldn’t I be writing?

So, I got an reply email from DH after I sent him to let him know I fixed a couple things on his website: “Shouldn’t you be writing? ;)” Doh. Caught procrastinating again. He knows how I get when a puzzle is put in front of me. To be honest, I have been running a…

Frustrated

Ok, so I had this great aha! moment and now trying to work with it, I keep running into a brick wall. I spent a good chunk of time today taking the writing exercises at end of Chapter Five on Conflict in Leigh Michael’s book On Writing Romance. I got a bit closer to figuring…

Puzzle Pieces

I’m a sucker for puzzles. Nothing makes me happier than finding a solution. Must. Solve. Puzzle. Nearly any type of puzzle, as long as a bit of challenge exists, will keep me amused for quite a while. The sense of accomplishment is one of the reasons I like learning new things and coding (which involves…

Cheese with my whine?

So, I began this writer’s journey in earnest a little over seven months ago. I’m not counting any previous false starts (they never lasted long before) or tangential experiences (we’re talking stringing sentences together, but more interactive and emergent stuff or related non-fiction). What I mean is a serious focus on craft and honest attempts…

Jump Start or Just Insane?

I don’t know if this NaNoWriMo thing was a good idea or not. I’ve managed to get 3855 words down on paper which is more than I wrote fiction-wise all last month. However, I’m not sure I can sustain that rate or if I’m prepared enough to carry this story for 50k words. I also…