Last week I talked to a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile who’s writing a memoir. She told me she was having a lot of trouble with it—she can’t make herself write about a particular incident she seriously needs to write about. She asked me if I had any advice:… Read more“2 Tricks for Breaking Writer’s Block in One Day”
Tag: fiction editing
How Many Degrees of Separation Are You from Your Literary Idols?
Last week we told the stories of how we got into writing. They were great fun—all those busy four-year-olds cooking up stories, all those mad teens clacking away on typewriters under the raised eyebrows of the taken-aback, even some of us who came to this craft recently and are only… Read more“How Many Degrees of Separation Are <i>You</i> from Your Literary Idols?”
4 Ways Writing Reminds Us We’re Alive
It’s the Fourth of July this week, which is America’s version of a Summer Solstice extravaganza. We set off fireworks, eat too much barbeque, take a long weekend to look around at our loved ones, recognize their faces, and remember why we’re here. So let’s talk about four ways writing—because… Read more“4 Ways Writing Reminds Us We’re Alive”
How to Revise Wrong, in 3 Easy Steps
And now that you’ve plotted wrong, characterized wrong, and written wrong, even 9 ways to find the time to write. . .let’s talk about how to sit down with that baby and revise it wrong. Be obsessed with letting your language ‘breathe’ This is code for: “Be unwilling to revise… Read more“How to Revise Wrong, in 3 Easy Steps”
How to Characterize Wrong, in 3 Easy Steps
So we know how to plot wrong. Now this week let’s talk about how to handle character wrong. Because this one is trickier—character is a trickier element of fiction while, at the same time, an even more essential one than plot. It’s possible to get by on pretty darn thin… Read more“How to Characterize Wrong, in 3 Easy Steps”
How to Plot Wrong, in 3 Easy Steps
Can you believe it’s June already? You’d never know it from the weather on the Northern California Coast. It’s been pouring rain for days. It’s practically the Pacific Northwest. So I’m going to spend the month of June talking about how to do everything backward. And I’m going to need… Read more“How to Plot Wrong, in 3 Easy Steps”
3 Reasons Dialog is Important, 3 Reasons It’s Not
We’re talking about the pros and cons of the three aspects of scenes: description, action, dialog. Now, as we all know, dialog is the mainstay of modern fiction. Raised in a world of television, radio, and telephones, we as an industrialized race are familiar with nothing if not the power… Read more“3 Reasons Dialog is Important, 3 Reasons It’s Not”
3 Reasons Action is Important, 3 Reasons It’s Not
You know how everyone’s always telling you “Show, Don’t Tell”? Well, that means “Write Scenes, Not Exposition.” So we’re spending three weeks covering the three aspects of scenes: description, action, dialog. Last week we did description. Next week we’ll do dialog. And this week we’re doing action. Action is important… Read more“3 Reasons Action is Important, 3 Reasons It’s Not”
8 Ways NOT to Describe Your Main Character
This one, again, is thanks to @__Deb, who gave me my blog topics for the month of May. That girl’s just chock full of good ideas. (All wrapped up in hand-knitted sweaters.) I know you hear a lot of advice about making your protagonist heroic. Internally-conflicted. Easy for the reader… Read more“8 Ways NOT to Describe Your Main Character”
#editingchat 4/28/11
Once again, my sterling memory rewards me. That and the big ole note I wrote to myself last week. It’s #editingchat day again, people, today at noon Pacific Standard Time. (That’s 1:00 pm MST. 2:00 pm CST. 3:00 PM EST. And I believe 8:00 pm GST for those of you… Read more“#editingchat 4/28/11”