Did you know there’s such a thing as “filter words” when writing? I did not, but now thanks to the Tunnel of Rejection that was 2017, I do. In the course of a) submitting my manuscripts to RWA contests for judging and b) having my bits chopped off by the Axe of Editing the awesome staff at eXtasy Books wields, I have learned the stuff they teach you in creative writing. So take writing classes, is the lesson here. Alternate lesson: If,…
Happy Insecure Writer’s Support Group day! The first one in the first month of the brand-new year, which even sounds hopeful and exciting. The co-hosts entrusted with this important start are Tyrean Martinson, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor (I personally feel like she and The Ninja Librarian could be friends) Megan Morgan, Jennifer Lane and Rachna Chhabria. The question for this shiny new month of January is: What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing? When…
People forget sometimes that King was in fact a High School English teacher for several years while he wrote Rage, The Long Walk, and Carrie during his spare time. I think that teaching urge has never really left him, and On Writing is the result. You still have to go buy the book yourself if you want to know all the little tricks hidden inside it. I am shamelessly promoting the idea that you go give Stephen King some of your money. That said, here is a…
Or; Thoughts I have while working on the 2nd/3rd/multiple draft
How do I manage to write full time and also be a full time mom? The short answer: I don’t. These two engagements do not happily co-exist. Any articles out there that confirm you can have kids at home all day and a writing job all day are glossing right over several very important details. Similar to advising tourists to head for the beautiful city of Tokyo and skimming past the small detail that there’s a twenty-story high Godzilla rampaging around those gorgeous high-tech streets.…
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. -Douglas Adams
Following experienced advice about querying intelligently…..is so not what I did.