Category: writing

>10 Reasons to Finish That Lousy WIP!

>We all run into those pesky stories or novels that will not cooperate and go smoothly as ordered! But just when you’ve had it and swear you’re not writing another word, you do. But why? Dead Locked has been the mother of all difficult projects in my book. But I’ve pushed on and will push on until it’s done. And here are 10 reasons why I keep going and why you should too. You have put far too many hours into it already to give up. You love the characters and can’t leave them hanging. The story keeps pulling you […]

> I know this will sound weird, but I’ve found watching TV while I write can actually help. Sometimes that little bit of distraction frees me to write without inhibition. I think it works similarly to music, which can occupy your nitpicky Editor and free the Writer to do her thing. I had this experience last night for the second time with my novel. I rewrote the climax after getting an idea I thought was more exciting than the original. With a movie playing in the background, I flew through the scene without pausing to think too much or complain […]

>Reignite the Love of Your WIP

>A new idea can be like crushing on someone. You’re all excited and can’t wait to round every bend in the journey. Then the initial thrill fades. Eventually, you may get to a point where it feels like just work. You’re trudging through page after page, but the excitement you had at first is completely gone. I had this experience with Dead Locked. For a time, I lost all interest and considered moving on to another project. As you can probably tell, I managed to not only get back on track, but get that first rush of excitement all over […]

>Barreling Down on Novel Revisions

>So July 1 is my deadline to have major revisions of my novel finished, e.g. writing new scenes, axing others, and moving some scenes around. Happily, it’s in good order at this point so I’m excited to move forward and start smoothing things out soon. It’s always thrilling the closer you get to the nitty-gritty editing and major changes are no longer necessary. It’s also a little frightening when you realize it’s time to stop fussing and send your baby out into the world. But at this point, I’m ready to let’er fly. What exciting stage are you at with […]

>Settings That Inspire Scenes

>I had the lovely experience of walking on the beach at dusk the other night and it inspired me to want to either change the setting of one of my novel’s scenes or add in a scene that takes place then. I was especially enthralled by how the moonlight splayed out onto the water. I felt like anything could happen on that beach at that moment. You could uncover a buried secret, fall in love, or see a phantom ship. So many possibilities! Do settings inspire scenes, moments, or even entire stories for you? How have environments or places you’ve […]

>Tips to Get Ideas When You’re Out

>Do you ever feel you’ll never have another good idea? Sometimes this happens to me between projects. You’re over, you’re done – now what? You brainstorm, you search through pages of older ideas, maybe even return to abandoned projects. But sometimes trying to find ideas only makes it worse. So what is the key to unleashing new concepts? Sometimes a little distraction is all you need. One thing I find that can help is exercise. Moving physically can unlock creativity as well as keep you healthy. Walking, running, dancing, swimming, and biking can all help you loosen up and discover […]

> My WIP in miniature. I write one scene per index card to get the big picture. My notebooks for my WIP. Once an idea for a novel gets serious, it gets its own notebook. I only used the art pad at the beginning stages of plotting. I found it useful for working out timelines especially. The top notebook is now full so I’ve moved on to the one underneath for rewriting notes. The art pad also came in handy for working out the order of scenes. I used sticky notes for that. It was an experiment based on something […]