4 Manuscripts That Should Stay in Your Drawer

This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series File Cabinets
Private v. Public Stories: When to Hold Back
We’re talking about those old files, old stories, old passions that are hidden in your file drawer. Here are four manuscripts that should stay in your drawer.
Your first manuscript. No, you are not allowed to air [...]

Don’t Open Your File Drawer without Reading This

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series File Cabinets
A 5-part series.
How Valuable is Your File Drawer?
You are writing fiction and building a career. One of your valuable assets is your file drawer, your rejected stories. I have 2 four-drawer file cabinets full; plus, my flash includes many partial or complete manuscripts and [...]

The Writer’s Challenge: Give it All

Relaxed, Happy, Confident Snowboarder
I’ve been caught up in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics this week. Last night, one of the featured stories was Shaun White, the amazing half-pipe snowboarder. What stands out to me is

Taking risks

This month my daughter and son-in-law (newly weds of three weeks) decided to move halfway across the country. They had discussed it for a while, but the decision was abrupt because they either had to renew their house’s lease – or not.
They came through town and stayed here two days,

Prioritize

What Do Writers Do All Day?
I’m just back from Illinois where last weekend, I taught a Novel Revision retreat to a fantastic group of writers. One of the humorous things that happened: One writer had a chapter in which a character wrote about a condominium, but the character couldn’t spell, so wrote, “. . [...]

10 Ways to Wait

10 things to do while waiting 8 months to hear from an editor on a requested revision
Waiting
What would you add to this list?

Check your email every 15 minutes. Alternately, leave your email program on and the volume set to high, so that it bellows at you, “You’ve got mail,” and you can run [...]