Author: Seana Moorhead

Seana Moorhead is an aspiring writer and is working on completing her first fantasy novel. She moved to Grey County in 2002, having a passion for outdoor adventures, including kayaking and wilderness camping. Suffering from a book addiction, she will read almost anything that will grab her attention, lead her into another world or teach her something new. Seana lives in a bush lot near Owen Sound, Ontario with her partner and three dogs.

Second Book Syndrome

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I’ve been struggling with the second novel of my planned trilogy. I have all the words but it doesn’t feel like it holds together and I have no idea when or how to end it.  My two main characters split up and I don’t know how to structurally deal with that.  I try to console myself that the middle book of a trilogy is supposed to be the hardest to write.

Here’s my theory on why that is: a common problem with any novel is that the middle can sag. We spend so much time developing a great beginning and the perfect ending that the middle often drags.  Magnified into a trilogy, the middle book struggles to compete with the fantastic first book and the final resolution of the third.  Like a “middle” child, it can feel neglected, having neither the attention of the first child nor spoiled like the youngest.

This distresses me since I am a middle child. I am personally invested to have my middle book to soar.  But here’s the hard truth: I feel like I am failing it.  I have read many trilogies where the second book is weak; even with trilogies that I love, I often suffer through the middle book. Their flaws can be many: Read more

Walking Stories

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I live along the Bruce Trail.  The route passes along the road in front of my house and in the summer and fall, I often see people hiking along it.

While planting tulip bulbs, I spotted a man and woman along the trail. I assumed a young couple.  The man was lagging behind, dragging his feet.  The woman strode twenty feet in front of him, her boots spitting up the gravel on the road. It has started to rain about thirty minutes previous and she was soaked, her hat blown from her head.  He had his hood up, his chin down.  They had argued, I guessed, and I began to wonder about their argument – what was it about?

Had the hike been the woman’s idea or the man’s? Had one of them told the other that it was a bad day for a hike, the forecast calling for steady rain although it was still warm for autumn?  Or perhaps the rain was a catalyst for a deeper disagreement.

I imagined what this might be.

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Writing in Quill

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This spring I bought a trailer.  It’s a small, 11 foot, teardrop TAB trailer that my car can tow. I love tent camping in the wilderness.  Lately though I have been camping in parking lots and fields and decided to upgrade to a trailer. I named my new acquisition, Quill, as she has a porcupine shape to her.  And I hope she will be a productive writing partner.

I have a romantic vision of roaming the countryside with Quill, camping by lakesides and writing while the sun emerges from the horizon. Read more

A Writer’s Confession

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I confess.

I failed at my goal. In my last blog, I discussed how I had started a new habit of writing for 15 minutes every day.  I did it faithfully for about four weeks and then I missed a day, then a second day. I felt miserable and reminded myself to restart but it didn’t happen. Another month went by and I did not write once.  A failure. And it seemed like such a good idea!

I have long admired those people who tackle a huge project by taking small steps every day.  It seems like such a sensible method to complete a big project – whether it is renovating a room, weeding a garden or writing a novel.  But I fail at this method every time I try.  Instead, I lurch from binge tackling of a project to long periods of stagnation until I pop into another binge round.

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15 Minutes. No Excuses.

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Upon returning from the writing retreat at Rice Lake, I committed to writing every day. I had approximately sixty scenes to edit in my latest project. So I calculated that if I edited one scene every day, estimating to take about one hour each, I would need sixty days or two months.

Since the writing retreat was in late April, this meant that I should be finished by the end of June.

Easy, right?

To meet my goal, I needed to find about one hour each day to write. At first, I tried to do this in the evening which was a complete fail. I do not have enough brain power and energy to write after a long day of work. Besides, I am a morning writer. After one month of total failure, I decided to needed to add one hour in the morning to accomplish my goal.

I started getting up earlier. This was made easier by the longer days and I tend to get up earlier in the summer months. Still no writing was done. Instead I only managed to get to work earlier. Not exactly the result I was aiming for!

A week ago, I realized that it was almost half way through June and I had managed to do only one scene. A dismal failure.

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How to make the most out of a Writing Retreat

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I spent the previous weekend at the Writescape’s “Spring Thaw Writing Retreat” on Rice Lake. When I came home, I was asked what makes a great writing retreat. Choosing a well-organized retreat with inspiring instructors is part of the secret but part of the responsibility also rests with us. There’s a magic that can happen at writing retreats.

Our Writing Cabin at Rice Lake

There’s something special that  happens when you surround yourself with other writers and your creativity blooms like a flower in sunshine.  I have been to several writing retreats and here’s my list on how to make the most out of the experience.

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Food in Fiction: What are your characters having for dinner tonight?

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In Ian Hamilton’s crime series, Ava Lee is always eating interesting and descriptive food. In the book, The Wild Beasts of Wuhan, Ava Lee orders “sautéed languoustines with crab tortellini in a shellfish bisque as a starter, and pan-fried black bream with truffle mashed potatoes as her main.”

Later in the same book, Ava orders without hesitation: foie gras and black sea bass with oyster mushrooms.

What are languoustines?

I had to look it up: it’s also called “Norway Lobster”, a luxury seafood prized for its sweet meat. They’re crazy expensive because of their rarity. Bream is a fish. Ava Lee adores expensive luxury food. It tells the reader about her income and social status. It also makes me hungry.

Being specific about the food your characters are eating can bring richness and depth to your writing. It can help establish the setting, the historical period, and the culture of your characters. But it can do more.

Here is my nine course meal of how food can add flavour and spice to your novel:

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