Do writers have overactive right brains?

Potters, painters and photographers all have tangibles to work with. Writers work in a sphere of the unseen. What an ethereal realm we are engaged in…weaving the fabric of our stories from little more than imagination and inspiration. Sometimes I feel like one of the weavers from ‘the emperor’s new clothes’, spinning my story from invisible thread and inviting my readers to believe in [...]

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Point of view: a reader and writer’s perspective

Writing has made me a more critical reader. My latest library book lost me as a reader because of technical issues. Besides some rather drab characters and a meandering plot, the POV shifted so often I was starting to feel the main action of the story was my ability to leap about between character’s heads. I won’t tell you what [...]

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When cats go searching for their identity…archetypes and the hero’s journey

I’ve been missing in action, but hardly inactive. When I first started writing, my research lead me to use the model of archetypes to develop my characters. Any intrepid Googler can find enough online info to understand this mythic structure. My delicious bookmarks attest to that and considering I knew nothing when I started out, [...]

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‘Dear Lucky Agent’ Writing Contest

I’ve never entered a writing contest before but I’m planning to participate in the second ‘Dear Lucky Agent’ Contest being held over at GLA. This one is for middle grade and YA fiction. Maybe it’s the ‘lucky break’ my cats have been waiting for. The  judging agent is Jennifer Laughran with the Andrea Brown Literary [...]

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Take a peek in my writer’s toolbox

“The work was like peeling an onion. The outer skin came off with difficulty… but in no time you’d be down to its innards, tears streaming from your eyes as more and more beautiful reductions became possible.” ~Edward Blishen My SCBWI writers’ group had its monthly ‘schmooze’ Saturday morning at Kaffe Latte.  A relatively new [...]

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Writing software or index cards? How about a storyboard!

I’ve been researching and testing fiction writing software for the last week or so.  The kind you need when your notes overtake your life and your dining table. Like so. My new script is in the plot and character development stage and every time I get a brilliant flash I grab a sticky note, a [...]

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Late blooming writers

This post is for everyone over 50 who thinks it’s too late to take up writing. I didn’t take it seriously until I saw my 60th  looming on the horizon and I knew if I was going to do anything interesting with this part of my life, I’d better get busy. Fast. I jumped in [...]

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Think like a writer

The more I write, the more I find myself thinking like a writer when I’m not at the keyboard. Some of my best ideas come when I’m in the shower,  especially when I’ve hit a wall or have a question for my character who gives me a blank stare as an answer. It’s usually a [...]

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Writing a book?

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out [...]

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Write what you love

“Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.” Ray Bradbury

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