A month has zipped by since I last posted, and while many in my writer circles have suffered creative blocks due to the stress around us, I have managed to dig in, simultaneously attacking 3 different projects. I may be the only one in the world right now wishing for more hours each day! TheContinue reading “Quarantine Update”
Tag Archives: Writing
A Little Detour
I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels the word “pandemic” is almost unreal, the stuff of the distant past or post-apocalyptic novels. And although real pandemics are sprinkled throughout history with a macabre regularity, even the more recent outbreak of H1N1 with over 12,000 U.S. deaths in the first year did nothing toContinue reading “A Little Detour”
Novel Novel Structure
The title of this post may seem like a typo, but it’s not! 🙂 I just finished reading Bickham’s Scene & Structure, and I am totally geeking out about this cool new tool in my writer’s box. Coming from a background of writing poems, essays and flash fiction, the elements of structure in novel writingContinue reading “Novel Novel Structure”
The Best Birthday Present
Today may be my birthday, but this weekend I gave myself the best present ever. I finished my first novel! It came to a grand tally of 71,194 words, and an additional 10k words of research, pre-writing and character development. That’s about 325 pages! Actually when I say I gave myself this marathon of wordsContinue reading “The Best Birthday Present”
A Vote of Confidence
Interruptions are everywhere this week with doctor appointments and half-days at school, but I am getting words in every chance I get. It is so easy to let a lack of progress raise doubts as to my ability to finish this book. As luck would have it, my award certificates and prize money from aContinue reading “A Vote of Confidence”
Out of Hibernation
After the intense focus on writing for November, it was a beautiful thing to switch it up for December and focus only on family, Christmas, and lots of good food. But, now it’s January, the decorations have been put away, my guests have gone home, and this week the kids are back to school. TimeContinue reading “Out of Hibernation”
First Time NaNoWriMo Winner!
I just won NaNo! What’s that you say? Why yes, it is the very last day of the month, but that’s not what counts. What matters is that I set this goal to write 50,000 words in one month, and I did it! My local writing group knows I love to start new stories. I’mContinue reading “First Time NaNoWriMo Winner!”
All the Feels
Something that has surprised me during this NaNo experience is how emotional writing a novel can be. Sure, I’ve poured my heart into my writing before. I know the power of words. But never before have I been with the same characters for 47,000 words. All in the last four weeks I’ve laughed with them,Continue reading “All the Feels”
Antagonists, Traitors & Villains, Oh My!
I passed the 40,000 word mark today and am nearing the All is Lost moment–that’s the point in the story when your main character is devastated and everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong. It wasn’t until today that I realized I didn’t have my villain nailed down well enough to do him justiceContinue reading “Antagonists, Traitors & Villains, Oh My!”
A War of Words
Two weeks in to this challenge, and I just hit 25,000 words. The first week was exhilarating, the second week was grueling, but I am right on schedule. On Saturday my region had a large “Midway Write-In” event. It was fun to write alongside others on the same journey. I experienced my first “Word Wars”Continue reading “A War of Words”
Sarah Lynne John 