Tag: Writing Habits

My Grand Collection of Story Ideas

A very long time ago, I remember reading a little meme or something of the sort saying that all writers need to keep a journal by their bed, because they’d wake up in the middle of the night with inspiration and need to jot it down before they forgot. How many of you writer types out there relate to this feeling? … I definitely do. I’m also the type of person who doesn’t like to turn on my light and wake my spouse, so if I wake up with the idea, I used to repeat it over and over in […]

Posted May 18, 2020 in Writing // 4 Comments //

“Why Haven’t You Finished Your Novel?” & Other Exasperating Productivity Suggestions During Shelter-In-Place

In the early days of shelter-in-place mandates, a message sputtered up through the waves of social media: “Now that we’re all at home, we can Do That Thing!” For some people, “that thing” was learning a new instrument. Really digging into learning Portuguese. For many, it was perfecting sourdough bread (which I tease about, but I love sourdough bread… please keep baking!). In writerly circles, the pressure seemed to be on writing: you don’t have social engagements, so now you can finish that book. Doesn’t matter if the person was an aspiring novelist or a seasoned author – the vision […]

Posted April 13, 2020 in Blogging, Bookish Things, Reading, Writing // 8 Comments //

Writer’s Block: Myth, or Fact?

When I first started writing, I remember “writer’s block” being sort of a buzz word among writing communities. Writer’s block is often blamed for lack of progress on WIPs, and phrases like “writer’s block” and “muse” have gone out of style in writing discussions. In short – there’s no such thing as “writer’s block”. You’re just not working hard enough. But that’s a really harsh way of saying it. I think that being a creative is really complicated. It’s not just writing – whenever you are building something from nothing, there’s a certain amount of pressure. Hard work is part […]

Posted February 13, 2020 in Writing // 0 Comments //

Nolite te NaNoWriMo Carborundorum!

I’m not doing NaNoWriMo this year. Between work and blogging and work and family stuff and work I just didn’t have the time to commit to it properly. And that’s okay. I’ve learned my lesson from past years when I’ve tried to do it just as things were getting crazy and it destroyed me. DO NOT BE DESTROYED, MY BEAUTIFUL MONSTERS. I want to talk to you about this NaNo thing, because it’s something I have a bit of experience doing. I’ve done 10 total NaNoWriMos. While I’ve always hit the word count (#bragging) I’ve also finished 8/10 stories during the month. […]

Posted November 11, 2017 in Writing // 2 Comments //

I am Not Immune to the NaNoBug (but I Have to Wear Bugspray)

I love NaNoWriMo. I love the deadline, and the knowledge of winning. I always win, you see. But I simply can’t do it anymore. Ah, NaNo. We had five glorious years together and produced eight delightful “books”. But yet, that’s the problem. “Books” not books. Because what I write for NaNoWriMo comes from the sputtering of “two thousand words, two thousand words”. It’s not quality. Quite often, it’s rambling. It’s the very worst of “I don’t know where I’m going with this, but hey look, words!!!“. NaNoWriMo has its perks. It forced me to put down stories that had been bouncing around in […]

Posted October 31, 2016 in My Stories, Writing // 0 Comments //