As I’ve written before, I’ve taken some time off from volunteering. I’m so excited to have free time again. My intention was to spend it with my daughters, but they’re old enough to entertain themselves now, so I’m left to my own devices. And it’s wonderful! (happy dance, happy dance.) But as soon as I put my pen down on the last few tasks of 2018, I had enrolled in a writing course and work got busy and we were off, touring colleges for my oldest daughter. Read more
Author: Diane Ferguson
Diane is an accountant by day, an amateur astronomer by night, and a writer by morning. Having just completed her first novel, she has embodied the maxim: writing IS editing. Diane and her husband have raised two girls in the wilds of Grey County. She was involved with the Words Aloud Spoken Word and Storytelling Festival for over fifteen years. And now looks forward to more time writing as she enters the empty-nester phase.
Why NOT to Throw Out Your First Novel
Many writers throw their first novels out thinking them beyond redemption. I’ve taken the “dog-with-a-bone” approach and I just won’t let go of it. Every lesson I’ve learned has been through the lens of this novel. And every draft that isn’t good enough yet, is just a draft that needs more revision, or re-writing. For me, I just have to like my characters enough to stick with them. The story can change, my point-of-view can change, but I have to want to spend the time with the characters. And even they can change as I shape and mould my story into something someone else would like to read. Every problem is just looking for a solution. Read more
The Long Journey Home
It’s the journey, not the destination—I keep reminding myself. And it’s a long journey, or at least I’m making it one. It was about a year ago that I decided to re-write the novel that I’d already written seven times. I was going back to scratch. I’d hoped it would take me three months, but now I’m hoping I’ll be done before the end of this year.
In that year, I got wrapped up in a bit too much volunteer work, over-extending myself. Of course, the writing got squeezed, but I still wrote something almost every day, just not always my novel. That’s been sporadic, at best. (I’ve been using Pacemaker so I now have a visual graph of my bad writing habits.) Read more
Food for the Writer’s Soul
I have a confession to make, I haven’t been writing much at all. I was, once again, making progress on my novel re-write after my last writing lull. I even had a moment of epiphany on how to make a nice transition between scenes. This is why it’s important to always make note of your scene ideas, or any ideas: You never know when life will happen and you can’t get back to it as soon as you’d like. Which is me, I’m in the gap and I hope I can pick-up where I left off.
I’ve had a few life events to deal with, like we all do, but my two major distractions have been politics and Words Aloud. Politics has just kept growing in intensity as every moment feels like history is being made. It’s like a big story unfolding in front of us. The only good thing I have to say is, at least it’s all being laid to bare. And it’s pretty darn ugly. And I can’t look away. Somehow I feel I have to bear witness to what is happening. And a part of me always longs to understand–so I read more. Read more
What did you do on your summer vacation?
Ah, September and the smell of books is in the air. Even after many years, it’s hard not to think of this time as “back-to-school”. Of course, my daughters are getting ready to do just that, so it’s not that hard to forget. September always feels like a mini-new year to me, maybe even more so than the actual one. Any new year marks a time for reflection, reviewing past goals and accomplishments and setting new ones. I never get as much writing done as I imagine I will in the summer. The promise of loose schedules leads more toward chaos than it does free time. There’s such a hustle and bustle to the summer, a desire to enjoy every golden moment before it’s gone, do all the summer things and then ask ourselves at the end, Did we do everything we meant to? Read more
Comma Conundrum
Having just celebrated a birthday, it’s hard not to forget I’m getting older—maybe even, “over the hill”. And I’m doing okay with that. I have no urge to be young again even though I have great memories. While I don’t need to keep up with the latest trends in fashion, I do need to keep up with writing trends. I don’t want my writing to seem out-dated. If age gives us one thing, surely it’s a bit of life wisdom we might impart on our fellow humans, or at least an interesting perspective. Read more
Breaking your Writing Resolutions
Writing Resolutions
We just passed Beltane Day, May 1st, the mid-day between spring and summer. Time for some Beltane writing resolutions. They say most New Year’s resolutions are broken by January 12th. I’m happy to say I lasted a lot longer than that with my New Year’s writing resolutions. (We won’t talk about the other non-writing resolutions.) But I still fell short of my goal to have the first draft of my re-written novel done by the end of March. What happened? Read more
Everyone else is a Better Writer than Me – And other Fictions I Tell Myself
I imagine that all those published authors and prolific writers sit down at their computers and just let it flow out of them. Sure, they may have to edit a bit, but they never have to struggle for the words, they’re in the zone. Then because I do struggle, I take this as a sure sign I musn’t be a real writer. It’s just another example that I’m faking it, I’m a “wanna-be”.
Because in my head, everyone else’s life is perfect, especially if you’ve already published a book! Then something comes along to burst that bubble and make me realize, no, this is tough for all writers. Each of us has a process but the most important part of that process is: bum in seat, hands on keyboard, social media shut-off. Read more