Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
When I was a kid, there was something called the “Young Authors Conference.” Teachers would get their students to make “books” and the best would go to the conference, which took place in a school gym somewhere with a bunch of other kids and guest authors. I looked forward to this every year because I …
Continue reading “Friday Inspiration: Books I Wrote as a Kid”
It’s been three weeks since I wrote the Internet a letter about setting boundaries in our relationship. How’s it going? Have I managed to stay out of the Internet’s pants during working hours? Well, mostly, but it hasn’t been easy. The Internet is still pretty clingy, whispering to me constantly as I’m trying to write, seducing me …
Continue reading “7 Tricks To Stay Off the Internet”
Last week I read the New York Times Bookends column “Are the New ‘Golden Age’ TV Shows the New Novels?” and got riled up about Adam Kirsch’s opinion, which basically boils down to “how dare TV shows think they are as great as novels!” Well, I feel the need to counter with “how dare you …
Continue reading “Is TV the New Novel?”
Dear Internet, We’ve been seeing each other for a long time now. Remember when we met? I was researching something for a high school essay. WWII? Shakespeare? Kittens? I can’t remember, but I asked you for info and you had only five websites on the topic. Back then, you were slow, not very helpful and …
Continue reading “Writer + Internet Relationship Woes”
When I was a kid, my family went to Disney World in Florida. Apparently, the favorite Disney theme park for most kids is The Magic Kingdom, but I loved The EPCOT Center’s World Showcase. Now an adult, I realize this is hardly an adequate representation of the world’s countries, but to a small town girl …
Continue reading “Friday Inspiration: Writer Wanderlust”
I’ve been working on my current novel since May. Back then it was a vague one-sentence idea. I wrote about four beat sheets a month, feeling out the story and figuring out how to shape it. In October I started outlining, and as I outlined I’d find problems and head back to the beat sheet …
Continue reading “Write, Revise & Repeat – Are You Stuck in a Rut?”
I always have a pile of books on my bedside table. This month in particular I checked out more books from the library than I had time to read. At one point the pile was twelve high! Craziness! How could I possibly read them all? Well, since I have a job and stuff I’m trying …
Continue reading “Reading For Writers 101: Books I Did Not Finish… 3+ Reasons Why”
Working in TV again has reminded me that I write well under the pressure of a deadline. Deadlines force me to stop procrastinating. Deadlines make me write faster. Deadlines keep me off the internet! But what if you have no real deadlines? When story editors, producers and broadcasters are all expecting a script from me …
Continue reading “4 Tricks to Make & Meet Deadlines”
Great books inspire great writing. Without further ado, the novels that push me to be my creative best… SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson This is the first YA book I ever bought. I read it yeeeeeears ago, when I was about 22. Though I can’t remember the details, I do remember the issue and …
Continue reading “Friday Inspiration: Seven YA Books that Inspire Me to Write Better”
If you’ve read my first post, you’ll know I’m a screenwriter who took 2013 off from a career penning cartoons to write a novel. Now it’s 2014 and I’m back in the TV biz writing on a super fun animation show. Not that I’m shelving the novel, no way! I’ll still work on it in …
Continue reading “Screenwriter Tip for Novelists – Pitch Before You Write”