Paying it Forward, Writer’s Style

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

You may have heard the saying, Paying it Forward. Similar sayings include… to pass it on, sharing kindness, or repaying in-kind. This means that when someone does something nice, instead of paying it back directly to the person who performed this kindness, you do something kind for someone else.

In the writing world, Paying it Forward is a core component

of the writing community. It can include things like volunteering on a committee, organizing meetings for a writing group, planning writing retreats, beta reading, participating in critique groups, writing book reviews, making book recommendations, attending book launches, supporting other writer’s online messages, or BUYING THEIR BOOK. Many of these actions are the foundation of how the writing world thrives and survives. Read more

Scrabble tiles spelling Grace with flowers.

A Writer’s Grace

I’m late.  (not PREGNANT… just late, at life – everything, but specifically, this blog is late)

We set a blog post deadline. We give ourselves this deadline and ask that we keep to it as practice… practice in professionalism. How will we ever be expected to meet submission deadlines, editing deadlines, a launch deadline if we cannot keep to our own blog schedule?

Woman looking into the fog.
Photo by Devin Justesen on Unsplash

Then my brain starts to hummmmm… maybe I shouldn’t be a writer, maybe I don’t have what it takes, why is my brain so foggy, maybe this is that pesky-peri-menopause thing again, perhaps this is all just too much, I’m letting everyone down…

I’ve known the due date for weeks… MANY weeks in truth. How? How did I fail to get it written?

I enjoy writing these blogs. Very much so.

I’ve got every excuse in the world and yet no perfect excuse. I knew the deadline. I saw it coming.

Sure, I was on vacation. Sure, I was busy caring for others, then pretending to care for myself. Sure, I was distracted by family obligations, a sudden health scare with a beloved family member, the completion of a memorial for a deceased furry loved one…

I was immobile, incapable, tongue tied… is this, dare I say, writer’s block? Read more

Riding the Query Coaster

How is it almost June? JUNE! 

Now I ask you, fellow writer, considering we are half-way through the year, have you achieved your writing goals?

Photo by Conor Luddy on Unsplash

I haven’t.

At the outset of this year, I set a goal to start querying my Adult Speculative with Romance. The roller coaster that is querying began for me as I was propelled into querying, tricked in truth, into joining the line for a monstrous amusement park ride, the kind of ride that induces nausia, forcing me to lay out on the grass and ponder why on earth I would ever, ever to do that to myself. But somehow we forget and then find ourselves once again entering those line ups, too embarrassed to skip out at the last moment… but maybe we should. Read more

Finding Inspiration

I recently travelled to the historical town of Frederick, Maryland. This was not a planned trip but one that came un-expectantly.  For those who are not acquainted with Frederick, it has deep historical roots, being located at crossroads between routes east to the Chesapeake Bay and west to Baltimore and Washington DC, only 24 miles away, and along a prominent north-south trail used by Indigenous populations before colonization.  The town was founded in 1745 by German settlers and it’s possible that it was named after Frederick the Great, King of Prussia.  

My travels to this town started with a death.  I will call this person Derek because it is an good old German name. Derek worked for 41 years for the US government before taking a retirement and settling into a blue painted row house in the historic district of Frederick. None of us were exactly sure what he did for the government because he was rather vague about it.  He talked about going into work at the Pentagon but he only appeared to work about 1 to 2 days a week, at best. It is possible that he made this up but there’s proof that he was getting a pay check from the government. For these reasons, I assume he might have been a spy.  

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Family Writings

In today’s digital age, everything from baby’s first steps to loved ones’ last breaths are easily documented and shared through social media with as wide a circle as one wishes. Technology is a great aid to writing families’ stories and histories, making it easier in many ways. I like to think there is room to expand the practice of documenting and recollecting to share with family and friends.

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FIVE Tips to START and CONTINUE Writing

For someone who claims to love writing, I sure can find every excuse NOT to write. Here I am… on a dedicated writing retreat. A clean house, with big inviting windows, open wide to the creativity. The quiet that only a place away from home can provide; with no chores, no dishes, no laundry, no pets… only the sun streaming in and the trees waving their wishes to the wind. The house hums… hums with electricity, heating and… potential.

That’s it. Potential.

I make a coffee. For once, with no rush of the day, no next thing, no must be on time. I’m able to stir. Listen to the tin, tin as the metal spoon strikes and scrapes the sides to lift and mix my sugar, like I’m mixing my thoughts.

Starting, for me, is sometimes the hardest part.

Then… it’s about sticking to it and meeting my potential. That word again. Potential.

After a week away, dedicated to drafting, I need to find the fortitude to continue. This post is a pep talk for my writerly self. I hope you will find a nugget to polish into a gem. Read more

Sparking Discussions with an Ambiguous Novel Ending

Lori Twining reading Crime Fiction

There is severe pressure on writers to have an excellent opening sentence, with an intriguing first page and a gripping first chapter. Most writers spend quite a bit of time rewriting this section of the book more than any other part of the novel. My current novel has had at least ten different first chapters, and I’m not even going to mention the hated prologue (I have written a few and deleted them all).

Then, there is the problematic middle that everyone talks about. I have a whole shelf in my library dedicated to writing your way through that. Truthfully, Write Your Novel From the Middle by James Scott Bell is one of the better how-to books for approaching this situation. It is easy to read, short (only 84 pages), and concise.

What we don’t hear much about is how to end the book. How do you deliver a satisfying ending that makes the reader walk away with a smile? How do you nail the ending and create a stir so magnificent that they are banging on your door for the next book?

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