MISERY LOVES COMPANY by: Jennifer Gregson The door clicked behind him as I picked up the pace, trying to catch up. The heavy metal door was harder to open than I thought it would be. Once inside, I noticed music playing – it wasn’t loud. The lights weren’t that dim either, but it was definitely…
Category: Writing
My Top Ten Writing Tools
So, last post I talked about my goal setting/planning tools…this time I want to talk about my writing tools. The things that help me plan, research, write, and revise blog posts, novels, and my flash fiction pieces (which I swear, I’m going to get back to). I still feel like a newbie writer so…
Goals = Happiness
I became slightly obsessed with goal planning this past Nov/Dec. I pinned articles, sent clips to Evernote, downloaded free eBooks, but two things really helped me. The first was deciding and purchasing a paper planner to use this year. I know, I know. Crazy, right? I love my technology, trust me, I really love…
Writing Weaknesses
After my last blog post I started back working on my flash fiction pieces and I’ve realized something about my writing process: I write short. Meaning? I’m going for stories in the 750-1000 word count range and yet most of my first drafts (and second drafts, if we’re being honest) barely reach 600 words. I’m…
Am I a REAL Writer?
I’ve been away for too long haven’t I? Sorry about that. A lot of stuff is going on in my life right now – stressful stuff. I haven’t been in a writing mood so instead I’ve been reading writerly type blogs. And I swear lately I’ve been reading that they all knew from a young age…
Bad Poetry (or The Joys of Being Stuck)
I’ve been feeling stuck, creatively. Uninspired, the writing hasn’t been flowing, everything seems wrong. I’m judging things I write or have written, I have no energy, the passion is gone. Even my Photo-a-Day project has felt stagnant lately. I’m just stuck. I posted on twitter and asked fellow writers what they do, and only got…
I’ll Show You Mine….
Clean first draft, before the pens took over. So, it has occurred to me that I haven’t actually told you guys what my novel is about. Bad writer! Without further ado, my novel in a sentence: A young art protege, thrown into early fame, yearns for a normal life with her immature parents, only to…
Block Revision Has Begun
Well, I’ve started. Block Revision, that is. This is a process – a major process, a very long major process – that involves going scene by scene and fixing things. Finally writing on the actual manuscript using all the worksheets and index cards from the past few months. The process: You start with your new…
Worksheets, Index Cards, and Timelines…oh my!
I’ve been busy, as little man has napped really well lately, and I’m nearing the end of filling out worksheets and playing around with my outline cards. I’m getting ready to actually start cutting, rewriting, revising, and reworking my manuscript. I’ll be using those worksheets I spent weeks painstakingly filling out, I’ll be using the…
My First Draft Sucks! Now What?
Now what? Well, I eat chocolate. Of course, I do that on most days so nothing really helpful there… No, no….come back. I have a solution. It’s this magical thing called REVISION. Ooohhh, see how it sparkles?!?! OK, it doesn’t sparkle, but it is magical. It can turn your shitty first draft into something wonderful…