When it comes to writing–and most things, honestly–I’ve always been a pretty dedicated rule follower. As a newbie writer first getting acquainted with the publishing industry and with what it took to write for publication, I was willing to try just about any piece of halfway logical writing advice I came across because I believed […]
Why Editing While Drafting Works for Me Read More »
I first thought of writing this post in the summer of last year, after a podcast interview with a writer I’d heard nothing but good things about left me gnashing my teeth in frustration. I thought of writing it again in the fall, after a few separate conversations with mutual friends led to some much-needed
In Defense of Keeping Your Day Job Read More »
My grandpa passed away a little more than two weeks ago. He was a loving, good-natured man with a great sense of humor, who had a funny quip for almost every situation or conversation. He enjoyed woodworking and baking, made amazing pickles alongside my grandma, read voraciously, and spent a lot of time outside in
Writing as Remembrance Read More »
Most of the writers I know have a writing routine, whether they consciously recognize it or not. Some write only in one specific place in their homes, some have a particular beverage they sip while they get the words down, and others prefer to write only during a particular time of day. Some work off
My Pre-Writing Routine Read More »
It’s probably no surprise that one of the first things I’ve done in the weeks since I got back from my honeymoon is dive headfirst into writing again. I’m in the middle of the planning stages for a new story idea that I could not be more excited about, with a tentative goal of starting
Creating Accountability and the Breakthrough Writers Boot Camp Read More »
I never used to be afraid of getting rejected as a writer. That’s not to say I never felt anxious submitting my work, or that I never got jittery anticipating a response to it, or even that I was never disappointed when a rejection letter would inevitably appear. But when it came to nail-biting, stomach-churning
Why I’m Aiming for 100 Rejections Next Year Read More »
Over the course of the last five years, I’ve written at length about the two very different stories–Facing the Music, my young adult contemporary issue book, and my new adult mystery–that have consumed so much time. I got the initial idea for Facing the Music all the way back in 2012, and the initial idea
Sometime in the years after college, I began telling other writers that I wasn’t especially good at short story writing. I’m still not sure if I came up with that idea because I hadn’t written that many short stories compared to some of my writer friends, or because I’d been too single-mindedly focused on my
The Stories We Tell Ourselves Read More »
I got off to a great start this year in terms of meeting the goals that I’d set for myself. For the first time that I can remember, I was ahead of schedule through January and February on everything from wedding planning, to professional and personal editing gigs, to my own writing. The last item
On Not Meeting My (Re)writing Goal Read More »
November is over, and I . . . didn’t accomplish nearly as much as I hoped for. Life happened, I got busy, and my somewhat lofty goals were no longer attainable within a week or two. However, I still made far more progress than I would’ve if I’d chosen to set no goals at all
NaNoWriMo Updates: Wrap Up Read More »