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I am stumped, not blocked. I know that something in my current writing project needs to change, I’m just not sure how to best accomplish it. It’s partly a matter of organization–this is a nonfiction project–making sure that everything is included, ideas flow logically. But as is so often, it’s not straightforward. I could go [...]
I wrote a first draft of a picture book this week. Except, I didn’t finish. And that’s a good thing. This often happens to me when I’m writing the first draft of a picture book or the first draft of a chapter. I write and write and write, then suddenly stop. Why stop? I’ve learned [...]
One project for this summer is to revise Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise. It’s the workbook for my Novel Revision Retreat and it’s also a “retreat in a book.” This year, there are four debut novels coming out of the retreats and three so far for 2012. (BTW, I”m booking retreats now for 2012, [...]
I woke last night and wrote and rewrote endlessly the first line of my new novel. Yes, it is an important line, but it’s not important enough to stop me from writing a first draft of the first chapter. Place Holders I like the idea of place holders in fiction. That is, you write something–a [...]
First Drafts are Uncertain, by Nature I’m at that fragile stage of the first draft when I’m not totally committed to this story. I’m still feeling my way and haven’t yet gained confidence that I will like the story, or that my readers will like it. I’m walking on eggshells. What can I do to [...]
Searching for Plot Events I’m evaluating the outline for my WIP novel and realize that I need more events. It takes place at one big event that spans 98 hours. Within that time period, though, I need some exciting things happening. I’ve sorta mapped out the emotional changes (Wow, what a change for me!), but [...]
I’m getting much closer to actually starting my new novel, but I’m still asking myself a crucial question. What is the cost of success for the main character? Loss of innocence. If you write a bildungsroman novel, that genre which take a main character from
Mini-Conflicts Help Characters Stand Out For my WIP, I’m spending the week fleshing out characters. I”ve written about characters many times. Here’s a Character Checklist, and 15 Days to a Stronger Character, and many other posts on character. At this stage in character development, I’m mostly concerned with creating an interesting mix. For this story, [...]
I’m a terrible writer! I planned to start on my new novel yesterday and got so busy catching up on correspondence, just sitting and doodling, that I wrote NOTHING! That does it. I’m back on the one page/day schedule. When I first started writing, I was home-schooling 4 kids. For months, I carried around an [...]
UnBlinded: Revising the Second Draft 419 Specific Comments I’ve just gotten back two critiques on the second draft of my WIP novel. 419 specific comments. I’m excited. Larger concerns. Each critique was accompanied by a letter with larger concerns. Both are still concerned that the characterization needs work. One would like a stronger opening and [...]
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