I've been reading Stephen King's "On Writing" and I'm more than halfway through. It's giving me ideas. One idea I've been having is down-right ill-advised. Or I’m assuming it is. 42,000 words into this novel I’m seriously considering changing the tense. I have never written in 1st person. In fact, I usually hate it as … Continue reading Tense Times
What is that quote about good intentions? Well, the less said, the better. I went into my July vacation with the very best of intentions. I was going to write 1k words a day and they would be wonderful. Did that happen? Heck, no. But I did read two books, spent time in the sun, … Continue reading Good Intentions
Next weekend marks the start of the vacation I used to set a deadline for myself weeks ago when life wasn't so hard. Today I have to admit, I am nowhere near reaching the finish line. In the last week I have started writing again which is good, but it's too little, too late. At … Continue reading Well, here we are.
Fellow parents will back me up on this, the end of the school year is the ultimate test of both your stamina and time management. So many tasks, performances and deadlines that we long for June with all our might. It's all rush, rush, rush to the last day. The last few weeks I've been … Continue reading Maybe I Need a Deadline
So, you may have noticed that there was no post last week. I let my anxiety get the better of me and I had an entirely unproductive week outside of my day job. My house didn’t get clean, I wrote maybe 1k words, I focused all my energy on getting the necessary stuff done and … Continue reading Week ? Oops.
November was rough. Actually, it's been a rough Autumn. I utterly failed to do NaNoWriMo, I didn't meet my exercise goals, and I didn't get a job I really wanted. There's no point into relating the trash-fire that is our political system here in the States so let's just move along. I'm not sorry to … Continue reading Snowflakes Welcome Here
Looking for writing advice? The internet has a ton waiting for you. You'll find the good, the bad, and the downright odd a Google search away. My favorite odd advice? Edgar Alan Poe suggested that a writer better the story this way - "Include a beautiful woman with raven locks and porcelain skin, preferably quite young, … Continue reading Writing Advice: The Good Stuff
In the business world as well as the creative industries there's something called the 'elevator pitch'. It's a way to summarize your project for a prospective customer/agent/publisher/producer. The idea is to make the pitch concise enough to fit the length of a ride in an elevator from one floor to the next. It's something that writers have to develop … Continue reading A Pitch for Forgiveness
Just a few days I ago I entered an online contest for new authors - Secret Agent run by the amazing Authoress who remains nameless. Click the link if you'd like the particulars, but the purpose of this one is to see if your first 250 words will attract an agent. The agent remains nameless as … Continue reading The Strongest Chain: First 250 words
I am not one for resolutions, but I do like goals. This year I wanted to set a few realistic ones so I sat down after the 1st and thought about what I'd really like to accomplish. Here we go. 1. Put full effort into querying The Strongest Chain (formerly the Davies). I've been … Continue reading 2015 – Goals for the New Year: Like real ones, not the fake ones you tell people, but never do.
Christa MacDonald 