Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
Since I’m in the thick of buying a new house, and packing to move my family, my time is limited. Kathy did me a huge favor by mentioning my pickle trick last Friday in her post. Pickle Trick = Use your software program’s FIND function to locate weak verbs and replace them with the word “pickle.” * …
Continue reading “To Pickle, Or Not To Pickle?”
Last week I talked whined about my loss of eight hours a day writing time because of a new job I’d taken. (Loving the job, by the way.) My friend is now spending all her time taking care of her 92-year-old mother, and she’s lost most of her uninterrupted writing time. Another friend just took …
Continue reading “Making Stuff Up II – But When? My Day Is Full!”
So, this came screaming across my screen the other day and it made me laugh. Before I started this journey, it’s what I thought writers did. For those of you who don’t know it: No. No, it’s not. I wish, but no. If I could drink coffee all day (OK, I do) and dream stuff …
Continue reading “The Private Life of a Writer”
I haven’t been a student in a long time, but September still feels like the beginning of the new year. I don’t always treat it as such, but this year I’ve decided I need a fresh start. Last year was a slog of, well, failing to finish a novel and I’m feeling pretty crappy about that. …
Continue reading “Writer’s Back-To-School To Do List”
The word “retreat” comes to us from Latin via Old French and Middle English. The root means “pull back.” Now that makes sense for military actions, but when it comes to writing, a retreat is a major step forward. As a noun “retreat” can be a place or an action. When planning a writing retreat, …
Continue reading “Five Essentials for a Successful Writing Retreat”
I call it The Beast. As a mental health professional, the death of Robin Williams struck a profound chord. He had it all – fame, money, respect, children, a new marriage. Many people are asking – how could he? We’ll never know what happened in his head, but clearly he saw exiting the world as …
Continue reading “Writing Is My Prozac”
The hot topic the past few weeks at WOS has been critique groups/partners and it’s made me think about mine. I’ve had many these past years. Some are writers like myself, while others are friends and family, more of what I would consider beta readers. As I reflected on these relationships, I realized that I’ve …
Continue reading “Men as Crit Partners: The Male POV”
Critique Groups have been top-of-mind here at WriteOnSisters for the last couple weeks. Callie wrote a pro writers group post and Sharon presented the counter opinion. Whether you’re for or against probably depends on your experience. Most writers carry some baggage around when it comes to critique partners and groups. We’ve all been burned before. …
Continue reading “Plenty of Feedback: A Writer’s Guide to Finding a Critique Partner Match”
I love books. The covers, the flypapers, the feel of the paper, the enticement on the book jacket. I can get captured inside of thirty seconds. I used to spend my life in Borders surrounded by books and magazines and literary types in the café that had the world’s best coffee and pastries. I’d …
Continue reading “So Many Books, So Little Time”
When Callie Armstrong wrote her post on Friday about writing groups and whether to join one or not, it brought to mind a day-long, pre-convention writing workshop I attended in March before the Left Coast Crime Conference. You might want to re-read her post before going further. Oh, boy! At the workshop, there was quite …
Continue reading “Writing Groups: On the Other Hand . . .”