Posts Tagged ‘writing process’
Don’t eavesdrop! Unless you’re a writer
Eavesdropping is rude, or at least that’s what your mom always told you. And it’s good advice… except when it isn’t. For a writer, overheard snatches of conversation can provide a wealth of material. They can spark a story idea, just when you need inspiration. They can provide insight into the thought patterns of people…
Read MoreThe beauty of well-crafted sentences
Thanks to Claire, over at the fantastic Word by Word site for pointing out this New York Times article I had missed, “My Life’s Sentences” by the American author Jhumpa Lahiri. I haven’t yet read Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake, which Claire reviews over on Word by Word , but I have read Ms Lahiri’s…
Read More“Scheduling” daydreaming time…
Last week I posted about the fantastic Conversation with Joyce Carol Oates I attended. The prolific writer was in Rome and shared her views on writing, literature and the creative process. One of the things that struck me was how often she mentioned her need to be quiet and think – to daydream – as…
Read MoreA Conversation with author Joyce Carol Oates in Rome
There are many, many reasons I love my adoptive city of Rome. One of them is that it’s a city that has attracted some of the greatest artists, poets and writers in history. All you have to do to see this for yourself is to visit the Cemetery for Artists and Poets or stroll around…
Read MoreBest writing advice: Finish your book!
Over at the fantastic web site, Women’s Fiction Writers , debut novelist Kim Izzo, author of The Jane Austen Marriage Manual , offers some important, simple advice to aspiring authors – Finish your book ! Kim’s advice is to get it all down from start to finish, without getting too bogged down with perfect phrasing…
Read MoreBe inspired! In the Shadow of the Apennines
Melinda Dozier , talented romance writer and wonderful critique partner, tagged me for this Blog Hop!, hosted by Page after Page . Thanks, Melinda!! As Page after Page points out, all of our stories come from somewhere, whether it be a dream, another book, a life event, etc. And as writers, we need to be…
Read MoreKeeping the romance alive…
… for your writing, that is. I have other friends who write and share their experiences, so it’s good to see I’m not the only fickle one out there. Still, it’s frustrating that even when I love a project, by the time I arrive to the mind-boggling, head-scratching, going-blind-from-all-the-revisions stage, that I’m ready to toss…
Read MoreGetting critiqued
At some stage, every aspiring writer has to take the plunge and find readers to critique his or her work. While your mom or best friend may be willing participants, they may not come back with the honest criticism that you really need. Sooner or later, it’s time to find a critique group. The idea…
Read MoreWhere do you write?
When I read articles or interviews about famous authors, I’m always interested to read about their writing routines. It seems that many have special places where they write for a set amount of hours. Most seem to crave quiet and an absence of distraction. I envy this. When I look at my own writing habits,…
Read MoreWhere do you develop your ideas for stories?
I love to read author interviews or talk about writing habits with other writers. What I find most fascinating is that there’s no one blueprint for writing a novel or short story. Everyone seems to have a different method for developing a story: hearing an idea in something said by an acquaintance, the kernel of…
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