My sister recently dropped off a book for me to read (along with some llama socks and a Totoro keychain, woot woot) that featured her name in the title. Me: “Did you pick this up just cuz the main character
Working with an Ensemble Cast
I’m to the climax of the space dinosaur book, which is exciting! And also scary, because I’m trying out fencepost outlining for this particular project (basically, you identify the major plot points for your arcs–first plot point, midpoint, second plot
How to Picture Characters
Good news, squiders! I did not have to go to jury duty today! (Obviously.) (Also, I wanted to note that I put The Wanderer as MG historical in my box of books post, and it is straight MG. Not sure why I thought it was
Under the Weather
uuuuugh, school’s barely been going for a week and they’ve already brought germs home. So in celebration of my face being full of snot, have a landsquid. He looks how I feel. I’ll see you Thursday, squiders, unless I have
Be Jealous of My Box of Books
So, everyone I know is moving this week. Okay, not everyone, but five people. It’s still a lot. And all at the same time. One of the things about moving is that you realize how much stuff you’ve wedged into
Low Confidence
It’s recently come to my attention that I’m not as good of a fiction writer as I wish I was. This comes from the sort of things writers run into all the time–a combo of bad reviews, harsh critiques from
Writing Around Life: Personal Anecdotes?
Hey, squiders, a question for all of you that have been following along with the writing around life posts: Would they be better with personal anecdotes? I’ve been in most, if not all, of the situations described in the book.
Reading Old Books vs New
A writing friend once, in the middle of a storycraft discussion, declared that if you want to be published, you shouldn’t be reading anything older than about five years. So, for example, if you’re reading anything before 2013 today, you’re
Writing Around Life: Work/School/Kids
Here we run into the ultimate combination–work, school, and children. (This is also our last official post in the writing around life series. If you think I should add anything, or you have any comments, please let me know!) Now,