Some times I have an opinion. I mean this is a blog so pretty much everything is opinionated but these might be more so than others.
November is just around the corner. In the writers world, that means NaNoWriMo. Yep, National Novel Writing Month, when a bunch of crazy writers decide this is the month they are going to write the novel that has been languishing about in their brains or hard drives. This is the month that writers take on…
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ~ Stephen King I begin with those words as a reminder that if we want to be serious writers, we must first be serious readers. Reading Methods There is reading for enjoyment, reading for analytical…
The Pros and Cons of Traditional vs. Self-Publishing The Process Time: Traditional publishing is not called traditional because they are old fogies. Traditional publishing is basically “always been done this way.” In other words, an author writes; an illustrator draws; an editor and an art director suggest revisions (often several times); a copy editor proofs…
Your characters remember their birthdays and when they faced all those conflicts you created. Your readers also remember and will spot any error or inconsistency in your story’s calendar of events. How to Remember Your Story Timeline. Aeon Timeline ($40 for Mac from Scribble Code) helps you plan and keep track of everything. A version…
Towards the end of a ten-week screenwriting class in New York City, a classmate told me she liked my work and that she wanted to propose a collaboration on a screenplay with me. She was a student at one of the top acting programs in the nation and she had dreams of one day producing…
“My parents were visiting.” “My kids had friends over.” “We were hiking.” “I had a beach romance.” “It was too hot.” “It was time to pick the tomatoes.” All year we long for summer, when schedules ease and sunshine lasts well into evening. However, when summer comes, too often our writing gets put off until…
One of my goals when we moved to Ireland was learning to write. To actually complete a manuscript from start to finish. I came to the right place. The one thing this country does is promote the arts. Writers and writing are everywhere. In fact, up until very recently, writers did not have to pay…
After seven years of living in Ireland, we have made the decision to move back to the U.S for a change in scenery. We leave July 4th. With fifty states to choose from, we chose Florida. After many years of rain and unemployment; we have chosen the heat, sunshine, and jobs. I have heard Ireland…