Your protagonist does something that he/she is ashamed of. Questions to ask about this scene spark: *Which other characters see the protagonist do the action? *What was the justification of the action? *Was another character hurt by the action? … [Read more...]
When Less is More
June 29, 2009 Leave a Comment
Interesting blog post today on John Green’s Sparks Fly Up website. John talks about book advances, and while most writers dream of that 7-figure advance, he states that maybe a lower advance will be more beneficial to the writer AND the publisher. In his post he makes an analogy based on our current mortgage situation: “It seems to me that the publishing business has a lot in common with the mortgage industry: A publisher loans you some money, which they expect you to pay back. And … [Read more...]
Summer Challenge Milestone #4
June 29, 2009 Read Comments
I completed Week #4 of the Challenge. Nine more weeks to go. This is going to be a LONG summer. So I did a little better than I did last week. What helped me was turning off the TV and getting most of my writing done outside of the house. One of my goals this year was to try and write in my house---still working on that. Maybe I should turn off my cable? Yeah, right. This week I noticed I did a lot of revising which I shouldn’t do right now. Hence the low numbers on Tuesday and … [Read more...]
Writing and the Day Job
June 26, 2009 Leave a Comment
Ah, the day job. Yes, it helps pays the bills but hinders the writing. It's a catch-22. I found this interesting post from M.J. Rose on her Buzz, Balls & Hype blog that talks about this very subject. Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D. aka "Dr. Sue" is guest blogging and giving advice to a writer who hates the day job but is at a loss of what to do. "There does not appear to be one particular type of work that suits writers as a group. However, most of the jobs that fall into the 'loathed' … [Read more...]
