A Woman's Guide to Search & Rescue, my second novel, is getting its cover designed this week. A huge step in making any book real and soon to be released. It takes all my patience to stay patient! Good distractions are needed--and there's only so much pie in the house--so gardening is my answer. Getting deep in the dirt, getting way out of my head. Allowing time to pass and trusting the process.
All those good things.
Spring in New England is an iffy time, too--kind of like my own temperament these days. The week begins with temps soaring into the lovely 70s then plummeting to thirties at night. Birds are loud--they don't care--and spring peepers in our vernal pond are too. My masses of perennials are up, daffodils and hyacinths are a riotous mess. It happens every year, the beautiful routine.
Friday, May 5, 2023
Friday, April 28, 2023
Detail That Matters and Detail That Doesn't--What's Too Much, What's Not Enough?
Some people love lots of sensory detail in writing. I'm one of them. If a writer shows me the place, what the people wear, the smells and sounds, I'm right there with the story.
But I've learned over the years that detail only works if it's relevant to what's happening. One of my teachers called it "salient detail." In other words, if the character or narrator isn't experiencing shifts because of the detail, it's irrelevant to the reader. It can even derail the story's pace and purpose, dulling its shine.
But I've learned over the years that detail only works if it's relevant to what's happening. One of my teachers called it "salient detail." In other words, if the character or narrator isn't experiencing shifts because of the detail, it's irrelevant to the reader. It can even derail the story's pace and purpose, dulling its shine.
Friday, April 21, 2023
Finding Character in Landscape--Working with Reflective Surfaces in Setting to Enhance Emotion
A memoirist in one of my online classes was trying to write about the sadness she felt at her father’s unexpected death. Her feedback group gave her an unexpected response: while it was clear she was very sad, when they heard her speak of his death, her feelings on the page were abstract, hard to really grasp.
“They don’t feel any of the sadness I feel,” she told me. She cried as she wrote, so this bland response confused her.
When I read the chapter, I too noticed how distant the writing felt. My take-away was an almost-intellectual sorrow, a wistfulness. Not a strong emotion.
“They don’t feel any of the sadness I feel,” she told me. She cried as she wrote, so this bland response confused her.
When I read the chapter, I too noticed how distant the writing felt. My take-away was an almost-intellectual sorrow, a wistfulness. Not a strong emotion.
Friday, April 14, 2023
How to Find a Writing Group or Publishing Partner Online
Some people feel Covid is behind us, some are still being cautious about in-person meetups. Whatever your preference, it's also sweet to have the freedom of online connections when you're a writer. Or maybe you're a new parent or travel a lot for work, and you can't imagine a schedule where you can meet physically with other writers. Such is our life now, or so it is for many of us.
If you're working on a book, as I've said often in these posts, you need ongoing support. It's very challenging to write, develop, and submit a book in isolation. It speeds and smooths the way if you have fellow book writers creating a community and lending their enthusiasm.
When I poll student in my online classes, at least half the group belongs to a writer's group or has a writing partner. Writing is solitary; it's easy to get a little nutso when you've been on your laptop, deep in your story, for hours without interacting with another human. I know this well! Even virtual interaction with someone else who gets it can ease your way back into your normal life. Fellow book writers also give needed perspective on what you've been doing (even if it's a universe in itself). And of course, there's the immense value of feedback along the way.
If you're working on a book, as I've said often in these posts, you need ongoing support. It's very challenging to write, develop, and submit a book in isolation. It speeds and smooths the way if you have fellow book writers creating a community and lending their enthusiasm.
When I poll student in my online classes, at least half the group belongs to a writer's group or has a writing partner. Writing is solitary; it's easy to get a little nutso when you've been on your laptop, deep in your story, for hours without interacting with another human. I know this well! Even virtual interaction with someone else who gets it can ease your way back into your normal life. Fellow book writers also give needed perspective on what you've been doing (even if it's a universe in itself). And of course, there's the immense value of feedback along the way.
Friday, March 24, 2023
Three Tools for Getting through the Post-New Year's Resolution Slump
We're a few months past the "whee" of New Year's resolutions when anything seems possible. I love setting them, but I also know how to create ones that I will keep.
Around mid- to late March, the truth comes out--how many did I actually make progress on this time? If I've used three essential tools, the odds are more in my favor.
Because I've written and published thirteen books in three genres, working now on my next two, I've had a lot of practice at success or failure with this. I also know how down I can get when I don't meet my own promises to myself, especially in an important arena such as my writing life.
So back to those three tools I rely on. In order of how much they matter, they are: (1) accountability, (2) inspiration, and (3) determination.
Around mid- to late March, the truth comes out--how many did I actually make progress on this time? If I've used three essential tools, the odds are more in my favor.
Because I've written and published thirteen books in three genres, working now on my next two, I've had a lot of practice at success or failure with this. I also know how down I can get when I don't meet my own promises to myself, especially in an important arena such as my writing life.
So back to those three tools I rely on. In order of how much they matter, they are: (1) accountability, (2) inspiration, and (3) determination.
Friday, March 17, 2023
Pros and Cons of Present Tense versus Past
The question of writing in present tense versus past tense didn't even occur to me when I began writing and publishing back in the eighties. Or even when I started writing and publishing fiction in the late nineties. I never thought about writing in any tense but past. It was the norm. Only writers on the very edge, in my unschooled opinion, ventured into present tense.
Present tense almost seemed impolite, if I can use that old-fashioned term. The writer, the writing, was pushing into the reader's face, demanding attention over the story itself. I personally thought using present tense for a novel or memoir, for instance, was like shouting the story rather than letting it speak for itself.
That was then. Now, present tense is ordinary. Half the books I pick up use it. And as a reader, I can appreciate it; it doesn't feel wrong or awkward or too attention-getting to me anymore. Not at all.
Present tense almost seemed impolite, if I can use that old-fashioned term. The writer, the writing, was pushing into the reader's face, demanding attention over the story itself. I personally thought using present tense for a novel or memoir, for instance, was like shouting the story rather than letting it speak for itself.
That was then. Now, present tense is ordinary. Half the books I pick up use it. And as a reader, I can appreciate it; it doesn't feel wrong or awkward or too attention-getting to me anymore. Not at all.
Friday, March 10, 2023
Mix It Up--A Sweet, Simple Recipe to Break the Block (Inspired by Alison McGhee)
Alison McGhee, writing instructor and author of many wonderful novels including Shadow Baby (my favorite), once taught a very effective exercise in a writing class I attended. I've shared it before in these posts, but it continues to be an easy writer's-block-breaking recipe, so I wanted to pass it along again, in case any of you are experiencing March doldrums and need a lift.
My memory of the specifics is a little faint, so I'll give you the basics, and encouragement to let it morph to fit your writing needs.
I do remember there were three lists on the whiteboard: people, ages, and objects.
My memory of the specifics is a little faint, so I'll give you the basics, and encouragement to let it morph to fit your writing needs.
I do remember there were three lists on the whiteboard: people, ages, and objects.
Friday, March 3, 2023
Jealousy and Envy in the Writing Life (Does This Happen to You?)
I finished a really GOOD novel last month--written by someone else, a writer who is just entering the publishing scene but has done a marvelous job with her first book. It was light and fun, but it touched on difficult subjects such as aging in our society and loss of a child. I wanted to finish my day so I could get back to it each evening. I was very bereft when I read the last page. I might read it again right away.
(The novel was Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, if you want to check it out. It may not hit you the same way as it did me, but I loved it.)
The next morning, when I sat down to write, I couldn't. I was able to journal up a storm, but writing fiction felt impossible. Like the channel was clogged. I pushed myself but the result was not worth the time.
(The novel was Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, if you want to check it out. It may not hit you the same way as it did me, but I loved it.)
The next morning, when I sat down to write, I couldn't. I was able to journal up a storm, but writing fiction felt impossible. Like the channel was clogged. I pushed myself but the result was not worth the time.
Friday, February 24, 2023
Researching Your Characters--Real or Imagined
The internet is full of great questionnaires for characters. I love taking a break from the grind of writing a book to play with one of these. I can even put on my journalist hat and imagine interviewing the character--real or imagined--to see what new information I can dig up.
This week, pick one of your major or minor cast and spend time getting to know them in a new way. People move stories, illustrate theories and ideas, and rumble in the background of all great literature, no matter the genre. It's up to you, the writer, to get to know them.
This week, pick one of your major or minor cast and spend time getting to know them in a new way. People move stories, illustrate theories and ideas, and rumble in the background of all great literature, no matter the genre. It's up to you, the writer, to get to know them.
Friday, February 17, 2023
It Ain't Over Til It's Over--The Unfolding of a Story (and How to Hang In There)
One of my favorite weekly reads about writing is George Saunders' Story Club. Recently he wrote a post about the time it takes to grow into appreciation of a story, as a reader. He mentioned a Chekov story he'd read in college but didn't really "get" until many years later. Both his own writing and his skill as a reader needed time to mature. A big lesson from this, or at least my interpretation of what he learned was profound: to not discard that which we can't yet understand.
I read this before one of my afternoon walks and thought about it for the entire hour. I loved the idea because it was ever-expanding: our appreciation of writing is a skill to be developed just like knowing how to pace or draft good scenes or revise.
But the real take-away for me was this:
I read this before one of my afternoon walks and thought about it for the entire hour. I loved the idea because it was ever-expanding: our appreciation of writing is a skill to be developed just like knowing how to pace or draft good scenes or revise.
But the real take-away for me was this:
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