Last October, I suddenly lost all my files because of a) a new computer which lacked something all my others had had, a dedicated data disk and b) failure of the backup device I was using instead. This post is not about computer stuff and that’s all I’m going to say about it. This is Read More…
Tag: tools for writing
Basics of Writing: Words
The right words in the right order….the foundation of every phrase, every sentence, every paragraph, page, chapter, volume…is made of words. In speech, the dictionary meaning of words is often less important than the physical speaker’s visual and auditory presence: facial expression, not just one but several in sequence..gesture and posture–again, not just individually but Read More…
An Abundance of WORDS & Progress
Day before yesterday, the day after Deeds of Youth‘s birthday, I had a call from my agent, with the latest group of suggestions for Horngard I. They sounded like good suggestions to me, and doable, and the practice of completing several short stories since the April 29 head whack had proved that the plot-module had Read More…
Character Names
I ran into another character name situation a couple of days ago…a story in progress kept hanging up on the protagonist’s surname. None of my early readers had seemed troubled by the one I was using, but I kept feeling that niggling sort of feeling when you’ve left the door of the fridge ajar, and Read More…
Getting Back in Shape
Not me personally, but my office…following the Great Computer Crash and the I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-Covid Scare and the Attack of the Gravity Monster (still healing from that last one), and with the help of the amazing Kate Shull, I am now in possession of the Boxes of Delight. Two new computers (one for me, one for husband, Read More…
Sometimes the Brain Surprises…
I wrote about this the other day (and then forgot to post it until the day after I wrote it, DUH) over on Paksworld, but it’s a general enough “How WriterBrains Work” story that some of you may be interested, too. As mentioned, I’ve started Book II of the Horngard group, and am presently just Read More…
Second Revision Draft
Second revision draft is now on chapter 22. This book, thanks to the years of not writing and brain foggy stuff, may take more than one run through the “Construction Phase” to get things right, but every thing so far is willing to be nudged in the right direction. My metaphors for the problems are Read More…
Titles
Someone on Twitter this morning asked a writing group “What is the significance of your title? Could it be something else?” Hmmm. But my NewBook has no title yet, so let’s talk titles. The title of a book has different roles, as seen by the writer, the editor/publisher, and the reader. Let’s look first at Read More…
Finish Line in Sight
This is the point at which, in the old days, would lead to two to four weeks of flat out writing all day and half the night, every day–no stopping, eating only what appeared at my side or (occasionally) on the kitchen table, as I made the final dash to the end of the first/rough Read More…
Some Thoughts on WriterBrain, Second Rock
Dorothy L. Sayers, who wrote some of my favorite books, also wrote essays I’ve found very useful, especially her writing on the doctrine of the Trinity and its relation to creative writing and the kinds of problems that result from what she called “Scalene Trinities.” For the non-Christians (which I wasn’t when I first read Read More…