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How A-muse-ing: or, Use an Inspiration Tape Like a Champ
13 June 2022
The scene is a locker room before a boxing match. The out-of-shape Champ lies on a massage table, tended by a curvy masseuse. Before him, a TV is showing his inspiration tape, the 70s classic, Dolomite.
Before I Was a Writer
10 May 2022
Many writers spend years dreaming of when theyâll quit their day jobs to write full time. Millions of us around the world spend our spare hours at the keyboard, blogging, journaling, drafting, and redrafting. Few of us can sell enough writing soon enough to avoid the dreaded âregular job.â
The Complementary Arts
4 May 2022
There are many reasons a writer takes a break. Overwhelming obligations, jumbled thoughts, headaches, and crying babies. The neighbor mowing his lawn and the phone lighting up with scam calls. The vast empty page and the impossible task of stringing words across the white abyss. Did I just call a blank page the âwhite abyss?â Break time, please.
Editing Software or Not: How Much Comes Down to Mechanics?
11 April 2022
I often read the work of fellow aspiring writers who need honest opinions. When I read for other writers, my chief priority is looking beyond typographical errors and grammar mistakes, searching instead for themes and content.
Who Am I to Judge?
3 April 2022
As a reviewer for Reedsy.com, I have access to a database of Advance Readerâs Copies available for review from self-published and small press writers. The manuscripts are rough, often with typographical errors, formatting problems, and plot holes. Through the typos, missed words, and grammatical errors, I look for writerâs work.
A Woman of Letters
31 March 2022
I have a friend Iâve never met in person. We found each other through a writerâs critique group that communicated solely via e-mail to accommodate a hearing-impaired writer among us who struggled to feel comfortable with in-person groups. Over time, most of our members drifted away, but I kept writing to JP…
Writing About Writing
22 March 2022
Every writer hears, âWrite what you know.â And what every writer knows is writing, its intricacy, weight, and solitude. As a writer building credits, I am relentless about creating and submitting my work. Once or twice, Iâve been surprised by journals who reject pieces about writers. âWeâve read enough stories about the writing process,â they say. âYour readers are not exclusively other writers.â
The Writer’s Game
13 March 2022
Writers have a long history with Americaâs Pastime. Journalists and sports writers wax lyrical for the game they love, likening it to life itself. At-bats and innings unfold, might-be homers donât quite make it over the fence, and close plays at the plate score crucial runs. Writers sense the links to lifeâs larger opportunities, near-misses, and strokes of luck.
Don’t A-BAN-don Me
10 March 2022
Iâll admit, the whole idea of banning books makes me nervous. Challenges to school library collections, attempts to prosecute librarians, and cries to ban dozens of titles worry me. Legislators and parentsâ groups say theyâre keeping kids safe from inappropriate content. But defining such content is a prickly proposition.
Edit, Edit, Edit
23 February 2022
Writing isn’t easy. Skilled writers make it look effortless, but years of work go into every word. Pieces written to a deadline, crafted in a matter of days or weeks, require writers to know how to edit their work. Aspiring writers are advised to be succinct; eliminate everything that doesnât serve the story.
What Would Mother Think?
11 February 2022
I have stories I want to tell. They emerge from my life experiences. These fictions rely on the characters and settings Iâve known, on traits of people who left an imprint. I follow the most basic writerâs advice: Write what you know. The best stories reach for the universals in human experience.
What’s An Invoice?
20 January 2022
…Up to now, Iâve been winging it. I donât belong to a writersâ group, havenât got a mentor, no fount of wisdom to turn to when Iâm at sea. âYour story is off to the designer for illustration,â read the upbeat note from my editor. âCan you send me an invoice?â
Write Life Into Your Characters
19 November 2021
…While characters need not be âlikeableâ in the conventional sense, they must be âengaging.â Villains are as fascinating as heroes and equally effective as main characters. The guided approach to characterization presented in âBringing your Characters to Life Through the Five Whysâ by Sarina Byron gives insight into creating characters of depth and resonance.
Give A Good Critique
17 November 2021
As a writer working in secret for decades, Iâve seldom shared my work with other authors. After a college writing class in which another student dismissed my work in one word, âboring,â I walked away from further opportunities to share my stories. I walked away from writing altogether for a time. âIf Iâm boring,â I thought, âWhat am I doing this for?â Encouraging comments from my instructor were some comfort, but that studentâs remark eroded my confidence. I wouldnât commit ideas to paper again for over a year; I wouldnât complete another story until my early 40s.
National Novel Writing Month 2021
1 November 2021
National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 when I heard about it from a college friend, a writer who took the craft more seriously than myself in those days. When she explained that the task was to write 50,000 words starting on November 1st and ending on the 30th, I marveled that anyone could be so bold. Amounting to just under 1700 words a day (!), I believed it impossible to produce so much in so short a time.
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