Lori Twining – Page 8 – Ascribe Writers

Locked in a Historical Carnegie Library for 72 hours

September 19, 2016September 21, 2016 Lori Twining 4 Comments

Sunrise from the Carnegie Wing ~ Lori Twining — Sunrise from the Carnegie Library Wing in Owen Sound ~ Lori Twining

Some people call me a Librophile and others stick with labeling me as a Bibliophile, but no matter how deep my love goes for books, I seriously can’t get enough of them. I have this obsessive compulsion to read ALL the books in this world before I die… I’m in panic mode, trying to make this happen. I buy them, borrow them, beg for them, and at the moment, I hesitantly draw the line at stealing them (although, I’d have a whole lot more time to read if I was sitting in a jail cell all day. This is quite thought provoking and I should investigate this).

Thirty years ago, when I was choosing my career path, I should’ve chosen to become a LIBRARIAN. That would have solved my fascination for wanting to run my hands along the spine of each book I come across, to sniff the pages, to read ALL the words… of course, I’m not sure if I would’ve been able to concentrate on doing any actual library work. I just would’ve wanted to READ. All day. Every day. I would’ve been fired the first day on the job. Yes, I admit I have a small problem. There should be a support group for people like me. Read more

World’s Largest Opportunity to Pitch to Top Literary Agents

July 18, 2016July 18, 2016 Lori Twining 4 Comments

Thrillerfest 2016 - Grand Hyatt NYC — Thrillerfest 2016 – Grand Hyatt NYC

Last week, I jumped into my “big girl” pants and bravely marched into New York City like I owned the place (even though I was really just a scaredy-pants writer) and attended my first Thrillerfest Conference. What an amazing week! This was easily the BEST writing conference I’ve ever attended. The writing workshops and panels filled with talented famous authors were incredible, as was my added bonus of attending a whole day workshop at FBI Headquarters.

During the week, the International Thriller Writers hosted a special event on Thursday afternoon called Pitchfest. Imagine between 300 to 400 writers who anxiously want an agent to represent them for their yet-to-be published novel, all standing in somewhat of a meandering line in the hallway outside of the five ballrooms on the third floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel. It’s a huge crowd and it seriously makes your tummy queasy, just thinking about elbowing these people out of the way to talk to an agent, who will probably hate your idea anyway and say: “No. I’m not interested in your novel.”

All I could think about was trying not to cry, when I got rejected. Read more

Behind the Thoughts of a Contest Judge

May 16, 2016May 16, 2016 Lori Twining Leave a comment

Judge's Contest Sheets — Judge’s Contest Sheets

Truthfully, I’m a writer most of the time, sometimes I’m an editor and occasionally I judge writing contests.

I’ve judged numerous contests, but during the past few weeks of May, I’ve had the honour of helping judge both, a short story contest and a novel contest. I’ve discovered some important things that make a winning submission and also a few things that turn judges off immediately.

Here are a few things judges check for when judging a writing contest: Read more

The Critique Virgin

March 14, 2016March 14, 2016 Lori Twining 6 Comments

Yes! I am no longer a virgin!

I will have to say, Saturday was one of the scariest moments of my life. Entering a room full of about sixty people, armed with six copies of 10 pages of my own original writing, about to hand it over for semi-strangers to read and give their analyzed comments and criticism to me. They don’t just write down their comments on your manuscript – NO – these cringeworthy words are said OUT LOUD for ALL to hear. Okay, not everyone in the room is listening, thank goodness, just the six people at my table and any eavesdroppers who were lurking (yes, I was even worried about eavesdroppers).

So, what’s the big deal? They read it, they comment on it and you go home, right? WRONG. Read more

A Simple Thank You From A Stranger Can Change Everything

January 11, 2016January 11, 2016 Lori Twining 6 Comments

Raft - Sharks - Ocean - Lori — Image by Lori Twining (January 2016)

Being a writer is sometimes difficult. There are times when you sit at your writing desk and stare at your screen. No typing; just staring. The white blank page becomes a dark scary place with an evil black cursor blinking back at you, daring you to write something worth reading. It’s like being stuck on a raft in the middle of the ocean, with no paddles, hungry sharks are circling and no matter where your eyes focus, you see nothing. No land. No help. No words. Your inner voice is stalled. The fear envelopes you. You can’t think and you can’t write. Not one single word. And, if by some miracle you find it in yourself to write a sentence or two, five minutes later you are hitting the delete button. You are right back at the beginning: the blank screen, with criticizing readers circling, waiting to attack you with negative feedback. This is when you think about giving up. It would be so much easier. Maybe, you weren’t meant to be a writer?

And then, something like this happens…

How to Rev Up Your Word Count & Finish That Novel

November 9, 2015November 9, 2015 Lori Twining Leave a comment

Lou-writing-1 — Lori Twining writing her current thriller novel.

So, you are a writer and you are writing a novel, BUT you just can’t find the time to finish it. Are you procrastinating? Are you spending more time thinking about writing that novel, than you are writing it? Are you stuck at Chapter Three and you don’t know what should happen next? Are you wondering what could you possibly do, to make your fingers fly across the keyboard at lightening speeds to finish telling your story? What could you do that will inspire you and motivate you into finally completing your novel? Do you want to know the quickest way to rev up your word count and finish that novel? I have four answers for you:

Writers Can Make A Difference

July 22, 2015October 22, 2015 Lori Twining Leave a comment

2015 Muskoka Novel Marathoners at Nuit Blanche in Huntsville - Photo credit: BL Storrie — 2015 Muskoka Novel Marathoners at Nuit Blanche in Huntsville – Photo credit: BL Storrie

I AM A WRITER! Or so I tell myself, almost every day.

That doesn’t sound like a problem, but it is. My dilemma is I don’t always write every day. Sometimes, I can go a week or two, without writing a single word of any real relevance to my current work-in-progress. Instead, I’m using my spare time to help other writers in a very unique way, by making decisions, by composing emails of encouragement, by pumping up the writers and getting them excited. You see, I volunteer as the Muskoka Novel Marathon Writer Liaison, and if that’s not enough, I also do all their social media postings and tweets, plus take care of their website for the whole year. I encourage the 40 participating writers to fundraise for the YMCA Literacy Programs, because I believe strongly that everyone should be able to experience the Magical World of Reading. This year, we raised over $29,000 for these programs that help people who are struggling with basic reading, writing, math and computer skills. This makes me feel pretty good. That’s over $6000 more than last year’s amount. I’m definitely smiling.

This past weekend, we finally experienced the moment, where all 40 writers gathered to spend 72-hours straight in one room… TOGETHER! Seriously, it is one of the best writing weekends of the year for me. It is an experience like no other adventure that I’ve ever taken part in. 40 people that range from quiet and non-social, to wacked out crazy people, who will light their hair on fire, just to get a few laughs (see picture above). Besides writing, we hug, we cry, we laugh, we walk barefoot, we sing, we dance, we scream, we whisper… and most of all, we have fun together. What’s not to love?

10 Reasons To Consider Using a Pseudonym

May 18, 2015October 22, 2015 Lori Twining 2 Comments

Pseudonyms, sometimes referred to as a pen name are more popular than you may think. This topic of discussion came up at our recent Ascribe Writers’ meeting, as some of our members are looking into using a pen name for their works of fiction.

10 REASONS TO CONSIDER USING A PSEUDONYM:

PERSONAL – So your mother won’t know it was YOU, who wrote this week’s best-selling sex novel. If she knew, she might die of embarrassment when her friends find out and start talking about how in the world her daughter would even know about this “icky topic”… even though, these same ladies have ALREADY secretly downloaded their copies of the novel and are half-way through reading it. (This would also include your spouse and your children dying of embarrassment. The workplace water cooler chat and the playground top-of-the-monkeybars chat would never be the same again.) Read more

Author: Lori Twining