Tag: editing

Back-to-School?

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment

 

As the leaves start to turn and the geese gather overhead, it’s hard not to think about back-to-school. I loved school. While many were mourning the passing of summer, I was anxious for the start of September, new books, new clothes, new class. So many exciting possibilities. (Yes, the excitement soon waned by mid-October.)

I LOVE learning and I LOVE reading. Two things that school was all about. Of course, seeing all my friends was a bonus too. Since I loved school, I knew I wanted to go to University—didn’t matter what I was learning, as long as I was in school. I decided to become a Chartered Accountant (now called a CPA). This was a path that would take seven years to complete. The culmination of that was a 16 hour exam spread over 4 days with a 50% failure rate. I made it!

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It’s All About Temperature

Donna Judy Curtin Leave a comment
Photo credit with thanks to Sarah McCraw Crow. @sarahmcrow

Blink and their gone.

What am I referring to?

Fall leaves.

It seems that one day I’m trying to remind myself to appreciate the stunning red and yellow canopies and then suddenly, the trees are bare, and snow begins to fall.

Photo credit to Donna Curtin.

But I’m determined this year to slow the clock, to breathe in the leaves fermenting on the ground. Is that what makes that smell? Rotting leaves? Mold? Mushrooms? Some magical combination of rain, cold nights, and the sap draining from the trees and into the ground to hide away until maple syrup season? Read more

A Year in the Life of a Writer

Diane Ferguson 4 Comments

It’s been over a year since I’ve done a blog post. I was taking a break to focus on my ONE writing priority: FINISHING MY NOVEL. It’s been a long project since I was learning how to write while I raised a family, worked, and tried to keep up with our house. My struggle is every artist’s struggle: How to keep creating when life is overwhelming you. (Unless of course you have a fabulous patron and you’re living in some historic castle writing away while dragons play outside.) But for the rest of us, here’s my story on how I kept to my goals when life was super challenging. And the tips, techniques and resources I used to keep myself on track even when life was busy making other plans for me.

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Fall Harvest Sauce

Seana Moorhead 2 Comments

I invented a new condiment. 

I know you’re probably thinking we don’t need a new condiment. After all, we’ve got ketchup, soy sauce, mustard, relish, plum sauce, salsa…is there space in the fridge and on the table for another one?

As a writer, I sometimes wonder if I have anything new to contribute to the book world. Occasionally when I enter a bookstore I have a moment of panic. There are so many books in there and how can I write another one to jostle for space on the shelves? Would anyone even pick up my book if I ever get published?

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A Writing Place of My Own

Donna Judy Curtin 1 Comment

     Before Covid-19 hit, one of my favourite writing spots was the local café. I loved seeing friends and neighbours, watching people chat and order their coffee, while I wrote. I have this unique skill, this ability to ignore everything around me and get fully engrossed in my own made up world. I took pride that some of my scenes were so engaging, I could disregard the rest of the world and fully immerse myself. I remember these times fondly.

Since March, with the cafés closed and my writing space stolen, I’ve been displaced. I’m nothing if not persistent and so I took to writing at home. The best time was early in the morning, before my family arose. I would claim the couch in the living room, coffee in hand, doing my best to shoo away the cats and dogs vying for my attention. This was heavenly, until my teenage children woke. Then they invaded, turning on the television, complaining about missing laundry and overall… just being their noisy selves, so I would stop writing.

This summer, my teenage son decided to move downstairs, leaving his bedroom upstairs empty. So… I’ve begun to dream of a writing space. Read more

Ready to re-write? Not so fast: You may need to go back to the drawing board.

Diane Ferguson 2 Comments
Photo by LOGAN WEAVER on Unsplash

After the first draft, my next struggle is reading it. I cringe at my bad writing and wonder if I should just throw-in the towel right there. What kind of writer could I possible be to write such dreck? So much telling! So little showing. Ugh. I’m embarrassed for myself.

But then I remember editing, that’s where it all gets fixed. And truth be told, I like editing the best. That’s where the wordplay really comes in. I love the challenge of taking a clunky phrase and turning it into a Cinderella sentence. And often, it’s easier than it looks. Except when it isn’t.

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Trouble with Transitions

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment
Image by Meghan O’Rourke

When I was raising my kids, they had a lot of tantrums. “The books” said to look for triggers, such as transitions. Does your child have trouble with transitions? Not only did my child have trouble with transitions, I realized I too had trouble with transitions. Certainly, not to the same extent, but “changing gears” for me took an extra push, an extra effort. And this showed up in my writing routine.

When I’m writing a first draft, there is a perpetual motion forward, of keeping the fire burning and just going. But now I’m editing and fine-tuning what is to be my final draft–except for some copy editing. I’m working on getting the rhythm and pacing of my plot, sub-plots and character arc, perfected. It’s an exciting time as I’m closer than I’ve ever thought to getting the story right, getting the rhythm right. I can go back and fix the prose, but getting the structure nailed down is vital.

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