Tweet Ever since I transitioned into a fiction writer, I’ve run into these insane walls. It’s the kind of blocks that make you doubt your abilities as a writer. You question whether this story’s dead-end is a sign it’s time to burn it. Maybe this story isn’t meant to be, you think to yourself. Maybe you don’t have the chops to be a fiction writer. It’s not like this didn’t happen when writing nonfiction. But I was able to research might way out of it. And I had an editor with a deadline, which are good incentives. But as I’ve…
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Tweet It happens to the best of us. Sometimes creative blocks last a few hours after a walk or shower. Sometimes they drag on for months, even years. It’s during these times that we’re likely to give up. That brilliant premise that got us to our feet every morning now seems like a distant dream or worse a terrible idea. Yet we hear of writers who became authors after years, a decade even, after slogging through a single manuscript. If we give up, the buck stops there. But what if there were ways can we reignite that flame of passion for…
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Tweet Lately, everything seems to be coming to the forefront. We can no longer stay silent and hidden, sweeping our historical systemic racism under the rug. There are people in power triggering all of our old wounds, inciting violence, but also causing us to reflect and revisit the ways we’ve been hurting each other. Racism is a fact of life. The pandemic is a reality of our new life. Writing is a tool that can be used to make changes. But how do we write and create when everything in the world is overwhelming right now? I listened to an…
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Tweet I haven’t been blogging here lately because I’ve been in a whirlwind of writing. I realized while lying in bed that there is madness to my process. I can drum up ideas quite quickly and when I do, there are a few steps that fuel my inspiration through the hard, stuck, I-can’t-write-another-thing parts. I steal moments to write. Before I had kids, I had all kinds of time to write. But I spent it mostly pretending to write while I lavishly devoured the hours because there were so many of them. These days, I’m usually giving a kid a…
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Tweet I used to struggle with what came out of me onto a fresh page. It was never as beautiful or brilliant as it was in my mind. In my mind, I was an eccentric, quirky, and stunning writer. One the world had yet to seen. In reality, my words were mediocre at best. It kind of depressed me. Thus, began the slog of my writing career. Every time I wrote, I suffered a little on the inside. Why was I doing it? Why was I torturing myself when my writing sucked? I would never be an award winning writer.…
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Tweet This is a post I don’t usually write. Usually, I’m a how-to nonfiction writer hoping to inspire you. But when it comes to fiction, I’m struggling. Recently, I attended SCBWI Hawaii chapter’s 2016 conference with 2015 Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat and literary agent Suzie Townsend. It was as encouraging as it was discouraging. It made me want to write as much as it made me want to quit. One of the other writers put it simply. With nonfiction there’s facts to lean on. When you’re grasping around in your imagination, there’s no bars, no walls. You’re free and freedom can…
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Tweet {guest post by Linda Craig} It doesn’t matter whether you’re writing a novel, an article that’s about to be published online, a script for a film or anything else; you’re probably bound to a specific timeline. As any other writer, you would probably want to write as much content as possible in a shorter period of time. If you’re looking for productivity boosters, maybe you’ll get inspired by the practices of some of the most successful writers known to this day. Here are 10 secret practices that have helped authors to become more successful: Word count goals Anthony Trollope,…
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Tweet Your muse. That nefarious, unpredictable, fickle elf (but don’t tell her that, I want to get on her good side!). Many writers say you don’t need one. Just put fingers to keyboard and type. Me? I need one. When I write when I’m fatigued, when I’m ill, when I’m uninspired, my work is kind of trashy. Ends up being deleted the next day. In my opinion, sick days are best for transcribing and editing. But there are secret ways I’ve learned to ease the muse out. It’s the reason why I’ve been bubbling up with ideas lately. I can’t…