Second Book Syndrome

Seana Moorhead Leave a comment

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

Were Your Hands Made for Writing?

Donna Judy Curtin Leave a comment

There have been times, many times actually, where I’ve doubted my ability to make it in the writing industry–to put something to paper that will resonate with others and cause them think and feel something new.

The truth is, although I’ve been writing since I was a young girl; journalling, crafting stories from any experience and writing letters, essays, scientific articles and recording medical records–I hold no degree in creative writing.

Any yet, there are so many things I have mastered in my life, that I learned with my own two hands–not from school. Read more

The Long Journey Home

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment

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

Creating The Stew of My Next Novel

Tracey Richardson Leave a comment

Writing a novel is really like putting a puzzle together. Characters, plot, setting, theme, dialogue, emotion. Or perhaps it’s more like cooking a stew.

But how does it all actually come together? After all, it’s not as simple as throwing a bunch of random characters into a pot, adding in some stuff that happens, followed by a setting, a theme, and so forth, and expect it to work. It’s a little — ok, quite a bit — more involved than that. I’m going to explain exactly how I came up with the stew of my December romance release, called “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”.

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Travel for Inspiration

Bernice Connell 1 Comment

It was a balmy twenty seven degrees centigrade in late October in Venice, Italy; birthplace of Casanova and often referred to as the most beautiful and romantic city in the world. I was lounging in a café, sipping cappuccino and watching the world go by. Gondolas and river taxis glided past and the canal water gently lapped at the edge of the patio, a scant three feet away. Tourists stopped to pose for photos on the iconic Rialto Bridge.

Traveling can provide endless inspiration if you pay close attention. Immersion in new surroundings while being unplugged from the normal distractions of busy lives invites creativity. Travel really is all about living in the present, relaxing and focusing on the myriad of sights, sounds and people in front of you. Read more

Writer, Know Thyself

Kelly Babcock 1 Comment
Or How To Have A Career In Literature
many books
Someone has to write all these books …

There are things that will hold you back from writing.

But almost every one of those things is a manifestation of you.

Surprised? I’m afraid it’s all too true. When it comes to not writing, you’re to blame.

But don’t be too hard on yourself, you likely didn’t know.

Luckily …

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Turning Leaves and Going Deeper with Andrew Pyper

Lori Twining 2 Comments
Turning Leaves Writing Retreat ~ Writescape

There are so many ways for writers to invest in their future career as an author.

Ultimately, as a writer, it’s your meandering pathway to follow until you get published… However, what if there were a secret in jumpstarting your career and taking the express highway to publishing, eliminating the many wrong turns along the road?

Would you want to know this secret?

Of course you would… or you should. Read more

Walking Stories

Seana Moorhead 1 Comment

 

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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