Tag Archives: writer as tool

Don’t be too ambitious……

Learned a lesson again, yesterday. I’m in the midst of a first edit of an upcoming novel, tentatively titled Coup de Grace. Work stuff is closing in, so I realized I’ve got to floor it or the editing won’t get done … Continue reading

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Committing to paper: draft 2

After 6 months of steady writing and editing, I finished. I wrote the original draft, then edited the entire thing again. That was the original plan, and I did it. It’s time to commit to paper. Large principle of editing: … Continue reading

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Imagination shakes hands with reality.

I’ve written a complete first draft of a story set in a small town. I used my imagination, and a healthy dose of Google map to figure out the logistics. And then I decided to visit. What a weird trip. … Continue reading

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Smell the story

I’ve been working pretty hard on my latest project. Since January, I’ve logged 79,000 words on my latest YA novel. My goal was to have a complete first draft, ugly as a fairytale stepmother, done. Mission accomplished. I’ve written and … Continue reading

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Rejection slips, God’s rude angels (Floating the duck, part II)

(Photo borrowed from “Duck of the Day“) But by this time, I had met a novelist, and he offered to read the first 35 pages of my story for free. He also explained how important those first 35 pages were. … Continue reading

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Don’t be perfect: the janitor approach

Today’s note is about one of the big barriers that keeps people from writing: perfection. Many folks believe that writing has to be right when it gets typed in, or at least they act that way. I don’t know if … Continue reading

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You still are the biggest tool around, when it comes to the writing process. As I’ve been suggesting, one of the most critical pieces of writing successfully is figuring out how you like to write. I can’t really tell you … Continue reading

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You’re the biggest tool (in the writing process): Part one

Lots of folks think that the most important thing about writing is having a laptop or a pen, or something. But the biggest part of the writing process is what you bring — you are the biggest tool! So, you … Continue reading

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