Posts Tagged ‘fiction writing’
Do you need time to ‘refill’ after completing a writing project?
The long list for the annual Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize) is out, and one of the novels on the list is Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread. Tyler, a prolific writer, is the author of twenty novels. I read an interesting interview with her in The Guardian, in which…
Read MoreWhere does your writing take you?
I went to film school, so I have a pretty strong background in dramatic structure. I do a whole outline, and as I work I get progressively more detailed. But if something happens in those sponatenous moments of writing that’s different than my outline, I go with the spontaneity, and change the outline to suit it. -Author…
Read MoreWant four steps to better (and happier) writing productivity?
Over at the fabulous Writers in the Storm blog – an essential destination for any writer – women’s fiction author Jamie Raintree offers us her advice on Four steps to happy writing productivity. What writer doesn’t want to boost productivity, while also increasing his or her happiness index? At least my experience with high writing productivity…
Read MoreAre you monogamous (to your writing projects)?
I was as surprised as anyone to learn that I struggle to stay monogamous … to my writing projects. In the first blush of romance, I set off with abandon, writing, plotting in my mind (I’m a pantser, so my plot lines never make it to paper/computer). I only have eyes for my new WIP,…
Read MoreWriting inspiration from Vladimir Nabokov
I’d click into anything with a title like that. : ) The Russian-American writer Vladimir Nabokov is one of my favorite writers, and sometimes I feel somewhat like a type of (accidental) groupie. I studied at Cornell, the university where he taught until he made his name with Lolita and happily gave up academia to write…
Read MoreWriting inspiration in the mountains
Although I live in Rome, I love to escape when I can to the nearby mountains of Abruzzo. I have a small place in a little town up in the Apennine mountains, and I enjoy going out there to escape the chaos of Rome – to hike and mountain bike and ski. I was out…
Read MoreSeven essential elements of a bestselling novel
The ever-helpful Writer’s Digest fuels the imagination of aspiring authors with their handy checklist: Seven essential elements of a bestselling novel. Some – like readability and reasons to care – are obvious. Others, like seeking out controversy are interesting suggestions. The example provided uses as an example Scarlett O’Hara of Gone with the Wind. By any…
Read MoreTwo countries separated by a common language
…or so says the famous line attributed to George Bernard Shaw (except, of course, it seems it may never have been written by the great playwright.) Nevertheless, it’s still a killer line, and one that often springs to mind when I create a non-American fictional character and need to be careful about dialogue. I thought…
Read MoreHow do you know when to give up on a project?
This question was posed in a post over at the fabulous Nathan Bransford blog. Bransford was asking readers when they decide it’s time to lay a current project to rest. It’s an interesting question for writers. After all the effort- and blood, sweat, and tears-writers put into their work, is there a moment when you…
Read MoreLife in the fast lane? … Or not
I’m not referring to authors here. The last time authors lived life in the fast lane may well have been back in 1920s Paris. Instead, I’m interested in novel pacing. As authors, we all know how crucial it is to find the ‘hook’ – that situation that will compel our readers to continue reading after…
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