Over the last week or so, I had really gotten out of balance. Lots of distractions. Lots of drama. The end result was a seething anger that literally made me see red followed by an empty numbness. I won't bore you with the details, but being this much out of balance really affected my writing and my progress, which made me even more stressed out. But I found some simple solutions to help me: Sleeping late Doing meditation and prayer Spending time with friends and … [Read more...]
A Writer’s Space
August 13, 2010 Read Comments
I'm still setting up my office and settling in. But it's really making a difference in my writing. I'm a firm believer that you should be able to write anywhere, but now that I have this dedicated space, I've noticed when I enter this room, I become more focused. For my last novel, I mostly wrote in the sunroom in my old apartment and it's almost that same feeling. Almost like it's a sacred place to open my creativity and enter into my novel's world. A place for the muse --- … [Read more...]
Hot Writing
July 26, 2010 Read Comments
In the midst of my revisions, I've been reading a great craft book, A Writer's Guide to Fiction by Elizabeth Lyon. In the book the author talks about two particular writing methods: Hot writing. The method of getting the first draft done as quickly as possible. Not stopping a.k.a NaNoWriMo. Overcoming the fear of the blank screen by creating words without revision. Meticulous writing. Careful writing. Revision-heavy. Several revisions of a page before writing the next page. Polishing … [Read more...]
Constant Craving
July 19, 2010 Read Comments
Since the chaos of my day job has settled down tremendously, I've been able to spend every day with my novel project. And guess what? The daily exposure has reaped major benefits. Notice that I didn't say "daily writing" --- but daily exposure. This could mean looking over your chapters. It could mean creating character arcs or plot outlines. It could even mean just *thinking* about the novel. The key is giving your novel some undivided attention on a daily basis. I believe this type … [Read more...]
