It seems some days, I will never learn from my mistakes.
You would think, from the number of examples I can remember, of my utterly dismal performance, that I would improve, get better, and learn how to re-read my work before submitting.
However, recent events would suggest otherwise. Read more
You mig
ht say the antithesis to the romance genre is suspense/thriller. You know, people getting killed versus people falling in love. What could be more polar than that?
I suggest they’re not as different as they may seem, which is why, as a romance writer, I make sure I read a few thrillers and suspense novels each year. They help me to remember how important pacing is, that plot matters, that getting the reader eagerly turning the page matters, that good dialogue is vital.
Character development often takes a back seat in thrillers and suspense novels because plot is king. This is usually the reverse in romance novels. But a really good thriller writer will find a way to develop their characters without bogging down their novel. And good romance writers figure out how to keep the plot interesting, how to pepper believable and heart thumping conflict throughout the story while maintaining character development. Read more
I confess.
I failed at my goal. In my last blog, I discussed how I had started a new habit of writing for 15 minutes every day. I did it faithfully for about four weeks and then I missed a day, then a second day. I felt miserable and reminded myself to restart but it didn’t happen. Another month went by and I did not write once. A failure. And it seemed like such a good idea!
I have long admired those people who tackle a huge project by taking small steps every day. It seems like such a sensible method to complete a big project – whether it is renovating a room, weeding a garden or writing a novel. But I fail at this method every time I try. Instead, I lurch from binge tackling of a project to long periods of stagnation until I pop into another binge round.
It has been exactly one week, since I returned from an eight-day stay in New York City for the Thrillerfest Writing Conference. While there, I not only had cocktails with famous authors, but I listened to them pour their hearts out trying to help aspiring writers make it through the solitude trenches to publication. My notebook is filled with over 60 pages of NEW hand-written information that I didn’t receive the past two years I have attended. How is it, I still have so much to learn?
Most of the information given at Thrillerfest is top secret to the writers who attend the conference, but just in case you are writing a thriller, suspense, mystery or crime novel, here are a few tidbits I can share with you: Read more
Having just celebrated a birthday, it’s hard not to forget I’m getting older—maybe even, “over the hill”. And I’m doing okay with that. I have no urge to be young again even though I have great memories. While I don’t need to keep up with the latest trends in fashion, I do need to keep up with writing trends. I don’t want my writing to seem out-dated. If age gives us one thing, surely it’s a bit of life wisdom we might impart on our fellow humans, or at least an interesting perspective. Read more
I hear constantly from fellow writers that they have trouble carving out time to write. Or they have the time, but they’re often swamped by writer’s block.
I seem to be the opposite. I have lots of time (in theory at least) to write and I rarely have writer’s block (too many years of being a writer, both as a newspaper journalist and as a published author, have mostly inoculated me against this).
At the moment, I’m trying to give myself a writing break, mostly because the timing is perfect. I handed in my latest manuscript to my publisher in late May and there’s no rush to start another novel. I busied myself this spring with a sizable freelance writing project and other paid work. Summer is here now and, well, that’s the perfect time to kick back and enjoy, right? Read more
Storytellers know ALL the best pieces of a story are usually built around conflict. Sometimes it is hard to find or figure out what the conflict is.
Where does your story start?
Where does it end?
Both are difficult questions.
The easiest way to decide where your story should start is to assume you only have two minutes to tell the story. Two minutes is being generous, because EVERYONE at the table has a story they are dying to tell too, and they want to cut in and interrupt your exciting tale, so they can start on their own story. It’s a competitive world out there, so how do you compete? Read more
It’s time for a little spring cleaning in the writing department; a bit of a re-boot with the goal of improving clarity, succinctness and impact in what I write. Along with some answers to the proper use of seemingly similar words such as though and although, I’ve discovered a few, new-to-me, rules of the English language.
Recently I came across “The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase” by Mark Forsyth. He explains that adjectives in English ABSOLUTELY have to be in this order: opinion – size – age – shape – colour – origin – material – purpose, noun. So, you can have a lovely, little, old, rectangular, green, French, silver, whittling knife. He warns that if you mess with that word order in the slightest, you’ll sound like a maniac. The order seems somewhat instinctual but I haven’t put it to the test with my own writing yet. I do know that ‘brown, lazy, dog’ doesn’t sound right and that, as size comes before colour, a green, great, dragon can’t exist. Read more