Avoidance

Avoidance

Yes, I’ve been avoiding writing. My mind is so caught up with a million different things. Such as building and tinkering with this Web site. That’s constructive, right? Here are a few of my favorite things to do instead of write: Research Ride my bicycle...
The dreaded pitch

The dreaded pitch

So, you have a finished manuscript. You’ve polished and prodded and written and rewritten and finally you think it’s ready to find a home in the world. Congratulations! Not everyone can do that, sustain a story over 80k or more words so that there’s...
Linear Writing

Linear Writing

I’ve often thought about writing out random scenes, things that I see my characters doing, or events I know my characters will interact with at some point in the story. It’s pretty easy, in fact, to make a list of those scenes, and soon it becomes obvious...
Of Corkboards and Thinking

Of Corkboards and Thinking

I’m circling around the new WIP. I’ve populated Scrivener with index cards of random scenes, and written one of them (sort of). Still not sure where the story begins, although I think I know where it ends. This one’s conflict is tough, because...
Story vs. Plot

Story vs. Plot

In my constant reading about and studying the craft of writing, I had an epiphany sometime over the summer. I can’t remember where it occurred, what I was reading, but I finally understood the difference between STORY and PLOT. STORY: Essentially, what happens,...