Ascribe Writers – Page 9 – Writers write about writing

Searching for COMPS and Writing BOOK REVIEWS

May 29, 2023May 29, 2023 Donna Judy Curtin Leave a comment

One way you can support other writers as an aspiring author, is to write book reviews! Maybe it’s a quick tweet, or a full review on Goodreads or a note of praise on Audible. Regardless, there are writing skills to be sharpened from reviewing books. Not only are you reading, but in writing a review, you hone your critical eye for what readers enjoy. Then you can learn how to apply similar traits to your own work-in-progress to make it shine and someday receive 5 star reviews!

I’m on a journey to find the perfect comp (comparable) titles. (For the reasons why comp titles are important… check out this link from agent, Carly Watters.) So far, my best advice is to START EARLY! It’s shocking how much time goes into researching similar books, acquiring those books, reading them, and then writing summaries for novels that may compare to mine. No doubt, as a writer and reader, immersing myself in books is a-bucket-load of fun… but it sure is time consuming.

While searching for comp titles, here are a few simple rules to follow: Read more

Why Do I Write?

May 22, 2023May 22, 2023 Kelly Babcock Leave a comment

Rebuilt BBQ — I felt like I should have been grilling myself for details on how this happened.

Why would I waste all this time writing? Well, the hope is that I will make an impression, as I told you in my last post here. But this week I came up with another justification.

Let me explain

And by “explain” I mean let me tell you a story. A few days ago I went looking online for a rebuild kit for the cottage BBQ. I located one finally. Not at the hardware store where I bought the BBQ of course, they don’t deal in that kind of hardware. I found one at the dreaded Amazon. And as luck would have it there were two left.

Did I click “buy now?” Read more

Have Writing, Will Travel

May 15, 2023May 15, 2023 Diane Ferguson Leave a comment

I’m flying the coop! I’ve been a work-from-home mom for almost 21 years now. I’ve taken a couple vacations—a week here or there, but this one feels different. I’m going to Italy for two weeks, without my family. I travelled a lot when I was young and single. Doing two major backpacking trips: the first through northern Europe before I started a two month job in Norway. And then another, I refer to as my beach vacation: Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Venice Beach, California.

It was the time before internet, before a little phone in your pocket connected you to the world. I actually took a camera—and had no phone at the time. I remember the struggles trying to learn the pay phone system in each country so I could call home to my mother and let her know I was still alive. As a mother now, I’m deeply sorry for what I put my mom through!

Novelists and Quiltmakers Bound by Threads

May 8, 2023May 8, 2023 Lori Twining Leave a comment

Often, writers have other creative interests besides writing short stories or novels. There are many pursuits to indulge in, such as painting, clay sculpture, embroidery, knitting, sewing, basket weaving, jewellery, photography, etc. I do many different activities, but this month, I concentrated on creating quilts.

As I pushed a hot iron across a square piece of white cotton material for the next quilt block, I couldn’t help but notice the similarity to a blank white page on my laptop or in my notebook. It struck me how similar being a novelist and a quiltmaker really are for me.

At first glance, a novel is made from words on pages bound together and printed into book form. A quilt is made from scraps of material and sewn together to produce a warm blanket. A book and a blanket are two different items, one hard and one soft, but both are created for you or someone else to enjoy. I thought about the parallels, and I couldn’t help but smile. Check them out below.

A Writer’s Journey to Unexpected Places

April 25, 2023April 25, 2023 Seana Moorhead Leave a comment

In my January blog, I shared my goal of writing, editing and polishing a short story to submit it to someplace… any place! I broke down the steps to achieve this goal in 2023: the first step was to research various fantasy short story contests (see my blog in January). So how am I doing on this plan?

True Story: When I was in high school, one of my English teachers had us submit a short piece of writing to at least 2 magazines for publication as part of our requirement to pass his course. The goal was not to get published but to understand how to get published and experience the process. Back then, we had to flip through a massive book that listed every magazine with their criteria and how to submit. Then you mailed your story or poem with a self-addressed stamp envelop so that you could receive your rejection letter.

Adaptability – An Essential Author Trait

April 17, 2023April 17, 2023 Donna Judy Curtin Leave a comment

I was listening to a podcast this morning while engaging in forced labour. By forced labour, I mean working on my husband’s half of our aspirational weekend job list—the list longer than we have the time, physical endurance, equipment, man power or complimentary weather complete.

My husband grumbled all this winter about how he wanted to cut down the creeping branches along the edge of his fields. Many of our fields are surrounded by bush and eventually, the trees stretch into the unencumbered space to steal sunlight from his crops and barricade his combine.

So, following my husband along the edge of the field as he sawed off pesky new growth, it was my job to drag the bud laden branches into the bush and away from his crops. On the podcast I was listening to, they said we writers need to lean into learning and be willing to grow… to adapt. And this got me to thinking about how, if mother nature can adapt to find the open spaces, surely, we as writers can as well. Read more

The Beginning of the End

April 10, 2023April 9, 2023 Diane Ferguson 4 Comments

Living in Canada means living with weather. When I lived in Toronto, there were ways to ignore it, but when I moved to Grey County, I soon realized there was no denying winter as it piled outside my door. I did learn to embrace it through: snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and eventually hockey. And I also learned there was no better time for a writer than in the depths of winter. And then there was that pandemic. For us introverts, it was a perfect time for writing.

Slowly things are opening up, or maybe I’m slowly opening up. Sometimes, I feel like I’m crawling out of a dark cave, adjusting to the light, checking out the horizon. And it’s not just covid, but my daughters have just come of age, so I’m also waking from the world of intense parenting—at least it felt intense! Obviously, the job doesn’t end here, but the duties are less time-consuming.

A night out with writer friends to see Barbara Kyle and C.S. O’Cinneide, presented by the West Grey Public Library, provided lots of inspiration for future projects!

And I’m also coming out of a long period of editing my novel, getting it ready to submit. And as close to the end as it’s seemed, the finish line keeps getting moved back. Al-most-there-just-a-bit-more-to-do. I’d printed off a copy and read through and made edits before handing it to other friends to read.

Ex Astris

April 3, 2023April 2, 2023 Andrée Levie-Warrilow Leave a comment

More than one blog posted here at Ascribe has dealt with the importance of reading books. How reading books makes one a good writer. So much enrichment: escape, inspiration, entertainment, information, healing – all the “tools” someone who hopes to one day write a good book needs.
Then there are the books you don’t really want to read, but know you should. The books that tell the stories of the Other, the disenfranchised, the exploited, of terrible events, injustices, of awful lives lived far away, of miseries lived just down the street. The books that teach hard lessons.