Canada Day.
The national holiday, so of course I had work to do… Read more
Category: on writing
Building a Solid Foundation for Your Novel
One of the most challenging aspects to novel writing is getting your pacing right. I knew I was struggling with mine, it lagged in places and people weren’t accepting it for publication. Which meant my worst fears were true, something was off. And that something has to do with how I’ve structured my novel.
When I reviewed it, all the necessary elements were there: love interest, betrayal, love triangle, secrets. Yet something grander was missing. Actually, for me I had a two-part problem. The first part was a passive protagonist. If you’ve made this same mistake, stop what you’re doing and fix this! Too many coincidences or chance meetings aren’t going to fly. Plot must come through conflict which directly leads back to character wants and needs. Read more
Oh, Brother – My Tragicomedy
Author William Saroyan wrote of tragicomedy: “Remember to be good-humoured. Remember to be good-natured. And remember that in the middle of that which is most tragic, there is always the comic, and in the midst of that which is most evil, there is always much good.”
I’ve been noticing dramatic plot twists recently and the impact on a reader, going from hilarity to devastation within a page and conversely, experiencing triumph in an impossibly dire situation. This certainly inspires continued reading. Although this makes for good reading, in real life, plot twists are frustrating and exhausting and I would usually prefer life on a more even keel. Read more
Your Novel is Hiding in the Garden
I hear you. There’s no time to write. Job. Kids. Cook dinner. Garden. Walk dog (or play with cat). Dishes. Laundry. Drive kids to hockey / dance / theatre / do kids paper route because it seemed like a good idea months ago. Go to work. Then all the other optional things: play piano; run chicken barn; paint; sing songs; construct glorious garage / workshop & orchard (that would be me); pick up dirty socks (all of us). Job (again!). Stop.
What if I suggest it is not about lack of time, but lack of Read more
Research for the Fiction Writer
As an agricultural journalist (my full-time writing gig), I am researching all of the time. It’s actually one of the first steps I take when laying out a new piece and I truly enjoy the process. I sometimes even pretend to be a sleuth-solving detective who can’t rest until she finds the exact piece of information she’s looking for. The harder the better; I like a challenge.
That being said, I don’t have a tonne of experience researching as a fiction writer so when I was up to host the May 2017 Ascribe Writers meeting, I chose to do a little more digging on the topic.
Here’s what I found. Read more
Memoir and Writing about Family
I began to write a memoir years ago, but found myself struggling and put the project away. Whenever I wrestled internally with thoughts and feelings, I would get the project out and add to it, thinking this was the stuff I needed to write down, scenes and all the drama involved that always made life – and books – so interesting. As a matter of fact, it was how I started writing to begin with! Read more
Selfish Mom Rubs Elbows With the Masters
Happy Mother’s Day to all the women who are moms, who want to be moms and who refuse to be moms. Yesterday was a day for love, as we all have or had an amazing woman as a mother, and we all should’ve celebrated with cake, while we remembered the love they shared with us.
This year for Mother’s Day, I was a selfish mom.
I bought myself a present. One I didn’t want to share with anyone, but me:
Alone time, away from the family to do this… Read more
Creating My Author Website; With Abby
I’ve been crafting this blog in my mind for weeks and then today, my blog was hijacked by Abby.
I had it all planned out. I completed my research, aligned my information points and was prepared to deliver you the hard facts on creating the perfect author website. I had a series of blogs planned in order to share my experience as a writer, who, in denial of the times, was holding to the statement that I didn’t need a website. I would chronical how I finally caved to logic and I was going to use my blog to share what I’ve learned and will learn through this adventure so that other authors may embark on creating their own website. Read more