Category: Nonfiction
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Team Spirit – My Drafty Little Room
When I need solitude, I go to my writing room, which is fairly little and a bit drafty. A couple of years ago, I was inspired by writing community team spirit. We’re all working on books and most of the time, we’re pretty nice to each other. We all tend to learn from each other…
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What Makes Me Feel Strong
Lifting weights. Mwahahaha. Being able to write fiction. My imagination is strong. It can create worlds. Universes. People. All kinds of creatures. I can do anything I want with my imagination. I beliive that imagination is God within all of us. In other words, to love God and to love ourselves is inseparable. And by…
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Passionate about Braille
The question for bloganuary today was about what cause I’m passionate about. I asked Michael this, and he said, “Braille literacy.” “Can you expand on that?” I asked. “Sure. Many blind people grow up not learning braille. They listen to everything. Please don’t misunderstand me. There’s nothing wrong with audio. The problem I have is…
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Living in Bold
Living boldly. What does that mean to me? What a writing prompt! To underline (haha) how difficult this question is, all I need to do is point to the fear of being just another grain of sand on the beach. I mean, how many people would say that living boldly means doing the things you…
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Happy Halloween: I want to suck your blood (don’t be afraid, it’s just a title to shock people into reading this, I think)
When I was a kid, I loved dressing up as a vampire. I enjoyed saying, “I vant to suck your blood!” Now that I’m older, and today’s Halloween, I’m wondering this: do vampires actually say that? I’ve read Dracula, and I’m pretty sure nobody say that. I know if I were a vampire, I probably…
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Just Jotting (or Maybe Juggling) and a Question
Ideas are nice. I sort of get into trouble with myself for having to many of them. I get a new one, start writing, and then leave other projects waiting for my attention. I’m going to come up with a list of “rules” for making sure I work on every story. 1. When an idea…
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Grammar – Haiku
Good grammar’s nice but, What’s more important is the, Story you unfold.
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Cucumber
Lots of people have cucumbers in their gardens right now. I ate a few, and then I got curious. Why does it take three syllables to talk about an edible plant part that so many of us love? Beans, peas, and grapes are monosyllabic, and as far as I know, we’ve been eating them and…
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About Time (and blogging)
I have twenty-six days left in my sprint to reach a 500-day blogging streak, so I started to think about that, and came up with the idea of doing a post with a title that starts with each letter of the alphabet over the next twenty-six days. Some of those will be easy, like A,…
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Writing Science Fiction – Revisited
There’s much more to sci-fi than science. On this day last year, I wrote a post about writing sci-fi. Rather than reposting it, I’m going to rewrite it. Science is important, but it’s not everything. Chances are, your characters don’t live and breathe science on a daily basis. Even the ones that do will still…
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I Wish People Wouldn’t Say “Vaccine-Resistant”
Recently, I read something containing the phrase “vaccine-resistant.” In my opinion, this is poor wording. Before I continue with my reasoning, let it be known that I do not hold a medical degree of any kind, and therefore I am speaking purely from my own personal understanding of how viruses, vaccines, and the human body…
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In 57 days…
In fifty-seven days, I’ll have posted something every day for the last 500 days. This has been a difficult decision for me, and I don’t like to admit that I’ve been struggling with time management, but I have, and I’ve decided not to blog every day anymore. I’m not going away, and I plan to…
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A Letter to Haiku
Dear Haiku, You are pretty cool, And people like you a lot, ‘Cause you’re quick to read. Not too long to write, Lots of meaning in each word, Syllables must count. When I think of you, It’s with greatest affection, Because you help me. Not only to gain, More traffic to my website, But to…
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Let’s Celebrate Pride by Supporting Nonprofits – reblog
For Pride this year, we’re highlighting queer nonprofits and charities. It’s more important than ever to support the queer community and raise … Let’s Celebrate Pride by Supporting Nonprofits
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What could there be to writing more than writing itself? Inspiratioin, perspiration, and beyond.
The answer is that there’s plenty. Writing is like a puzzle. All the pieces are mixed up in the box, and a finished puzzle (published book) seems a thousand miles away. Actually writing, either by pen or by keyboard, will get you only about a quarter of the way assembled and ready to go. Another…
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Writing Advice: consider point of view
Who tells the story? Point of view (POV) is an important topic when you start to write a piece of fiction. In Lockdown, I tell Billy’s story in the first person. I’m curled up comfortably inside his head, feeling what he feels, hearing what he hears, and seeing what he sees. I can’t experience any…
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Writing Advice: Break up long sections of dialog, and an accidental story
When I sent Wounded Bride to be edited, the book was full of long sections consisting of nothing but characters talking to each other. In that story, the detectives talk to suspects, and you’d expect there to be lots of dialog, but it should be broken up by actions, sentences about what your characters are…
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The Empty Screen
I don’t usually have trouble starting a blog post or a story, but lately, I’ve been confronted by an empty document, an empty blog post, and a mind that feels bereft of ideas. I would love to hear from you. What kind of content would you like to read? Please leave your suggestions in the…
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Writing Advice: no need to be tense about verbs!
Stories are full of action, so verbs are important, but don’t let that worry you. When I start a story, I have a choice of writing in the past tense, or in the present tense. Both are great, but both have advantages and disadvantages. The choice shouldn’t bog you down. Pick one. You can change…
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A Word about Word Count in Fiction
I seem to be obsessed with word count. I don’t mean that I worry about my stories having specific word counts, but I keep wondering how many words long a story is. “How many words?” is the first question I have when people talk about their writing. Many years ago, when I first started trying…
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Opinion: WordPress is the best web-hosting company there is
Why do I think say that WordPress is the best? I love their plan options. They offer everything from a free website with ads to pay for it, all the way up to an eCommerce plan for online stores. In the middle, they’ve got Personal, Premium, and Business plans to cover everyone’s needs. What’s more…
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Writing: endings and beginnings
With the year 2020 about to become the year 2021, I’m starting to think about finishing up old projects and starting new ones. That goes for all kinds of projects, from cleaning the house to trying new foods, but since this website is mostly about writing, I’d like to talk about the beginning and the…
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A Letter to Christmas
Dear Christmas, I think a lot of people are conflicted about you and religion in the 21st century. The love of God has both inspired people to do good, and turned some hands to do wrong. A free country is one in which people should not be afraid to believe, and they should be comfortable…
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The Writing Process: When you need an idea but
When you need an idea, but there don’t seem to be any in your head. This happens to me fairly often. I wouldn’t say I get Writer’s Block, but sometimes I just don’t have any ideas for a blog post. This mostly happens with nonfiction topics. When this occurs, I often just start typing. For…
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A Letter to Letters
Dear Letters, It’s writing Wednesday, and I used to write you on Wednesdays every week. I tried to be philosophical, funny, factual, or just plain foolish. Do you think I should bring you back as a regular feature? You know, maybe between writing advice posts? Oh, my phone’s ringing. “Hello, this is Hyacinth, who’s calling?”…
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Writing Advice: What to do when an Editor sends you your edited manuscript
It’s time. You’ve sent your manuscript to an Editor, you’ve waited while they’ve been working, and now they’ve just sent you your manuscript. Like me, you’re probably kind of nervous about opening that document. Don’t be. (No, I don’t take this advice. I’m always going to be nervous, no matter how many times I do…
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NaNoWriMo in 17 days and following my own Writing Advice
If you go to my Fiction page, you can read my NaNoWriMo 2020 novel in seventeen posts. They’re longreads, so you might want to save them or even print them out. Some days, I wrote only one chapter, but there were a few days when I wrote two, or even three chapters. I had originally…
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Writing Advice: dealing with too many ideas
As a Writer, I often find myself in a situation many people might be surprised to hear me complain about: having too many ideas. How can a Writer have too many ideas? Okay, maybe not too many, but too many to write all at once. When I wrote Wounded Bride, I had to deal with…
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Brain
Every Thursday, I like to use a writing prompt. Today, I’m using the word “brain,” which popped into my head, so I started thinking about it! I don’t remember who said this or where I read it, but I found it surprising that people used to wonder where our thoughts were. Didn’t we have them…
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5 Reasons to Start Writing Right Now
1. Writing is a fun and safe activity during COVID-19. Even if your children don’t read yet, they can dictate a story and you can write it down for them. 2. If you have a story in mind but are afraid of it, don’t be. Put it to paper or screen. Make those memories now…
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Are there rules in Writing?
If you’ve never shared your writing with others before, especially those whom you don’t know, you may be wondering if there are rules about how to write. The short answer is: no. Millions of Readers haven’t sat together and agreed on exactly what makes writing good. No two people in the world are the same,…
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Writing
“Writing” is the writing prompt today. I normally talk about writing fiction, but nonfiction must also be written word by word, thought by thought, letter by letter. Both must then be revised. Nonfiction especially requires profesisonal editing. A typo in a story is annoying to both Writer and Reader, but not the end of the…
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The Writing Process: the imrortance of getting into your characters’ heads
In March, I wrote a post called Write about what you know. Last week, I was thinking about Writers, and how they must transcend what they don’t know from experience in order to tell a tale. Oscar Wilde came to mind. He was a Writer who didn’t worry about what he knew or didn’t, but…
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Reawakening: the hardest part of writing
In October 2019, I wrote The Hardest Part of Writing. There will be two more posts about writing this week. Tomorrow, is Writing Wednesday, and on Thursday, the writing prompt will be writing itself.
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The Writing Process: after you press the Approve button
“There’s nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heart.” Bonnie Tyler, Total Eclipse of the Heart Being a published Author was like that for me. I didn’t really know what to say. Go me? I rock? Those were all things I could have said, but I didn’t have any words, and didn’t know…
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The Writing Process: Revising or Falling Apart
“Every now and then I fall apart.” Bonnie Tyler, Total Eclipse of the Heart Plotholes are as thick on the ground as leaves in the fall. Characters say and do things they wouldn’t. The whole thing’s FALLING APART! No, it’s behaving exactly like a first draft in the cold light of morning. Never fear. The…
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Tomb – Revisited
On July 23, I wrote this post about the word “tomb.” At the end of it, I used the phrase “rest in peace,” which reminded me of my favorite Edgar Allan Poe story — The Cask of Amontillado.
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The Writing Process: Building a Relationship with Your Story
“Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time.” – Bonnie Tyler, Total Eclipse of the Heart The first part of writing a novel (or short story) is like falling in love. There’s passion. There’s fun. There’s discovery. No, you don’t have to be writing romance, but of course, that works, too!…
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The Writing Process: The Beginning of Forever
“Forever’s gonna start tonight.” – Bonnie Tyler, Total Eclipse of the Heart Great, now I have that song in my head instead of the words I need for this post. But now that I’m thinking about it, that song could be about the writing process. It really can be quite a roller-coaster. Forever can start…
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Dungeon
I’ve been rereading Harry Potter recently, and the word “dungeon” occurs rather frequently. They’re dark and fearsome, but what is a dungeon, exactly? I mean, I’ve never actually been in one. I’m working on a book called “Written in Stone,” a fantasy romance, which involves a dungeon or two, so the word’s going to come…
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The Writing Process – Overview and Ideas
Writing is a complex process. Many people start writing stories in school. Some keep on writing stories, even after the assignment has been handed in and graded. Some people write until the day they die. I don’t know what makes some of us write all our lives and others only when they must, but the…
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Genres: Tips for Writing Fantasy
Fantasy is one of the most fun genres, because it’s not constrained by reality. Anything goes. Really. The imagination’s the limit. I’ve got two tips about writing fantasy. Be consistent and don’t be “explainy.” First things first. Consistency. Is magic allowed in your world? If it is, you have to define it. Who can perform…
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Writing Wednesday: How to Show Your Readers a Story
“Show, don’t tell,” is frequent writing advice. Even though we say “tell me a story,” showing a story is what many writers aim for, and in this post, I’ll show you some examples of how to make your writing less “telly.” Remove adverbs from dialog attributions. “I’m so excited to see you!” she said excitedly.…
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Genres: Tips for Writing Horror
I think that horror is one of the most flexible genres. You can do anything you want, and often, little or no research is required. I do have a tip for you, though. It’s easy for a horror story to sound like a catalog of events. Each one is scary, but if you pile terrible…
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Tomb
I was working on a book and wrote the word “tombstone.” Then I started to wonder why “tomb” rhymes with “gloom” and doesn’t sound like “Tom.” According to Wiktionary, “tomb” was borrowed from Old French into Middle English, and since I understand neither Middle English spelling nor pronunciation, I don’t know why the o, but…
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Genres: Tips for Writing Science Fiction
Sci-fi can be a difficult genre to write in, so here are a few tips. Know your science. I once wrote a sci-fi story in which there was a temperature of minus a thousand degrees. Such a temperature does not exist. Yes, you’re allowed to change things, but it’s better to know how the real…
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Tiny
Somebody used the word “tiny” in a tweet, and it sparked this post. Interestingly, the word “tiny” may relate to the tines of a fork. They are quite small, although I personally wouldn’t call them tiny. I read the definition of “tine,” and discovered, to my surprise, that it can be used as an adjective,…
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How to Pick Genres to Write in
There is a huge variety of genres from which to choose before you sit down to write some fiction. Here’s how to pick them. You will probably hear the suggestion to write in a genre you read a lot. I don’t have a problem with this, but why limit yourself? If you have an idea…
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Writing Community Insults
This tweet by @mims_words and the comments are great “resources” if you want to fire off writing insults, but be warned. If you go on the attack with these, expect it right back and so, so much worse. I will never use these on you and request the same courtesy. They are great and I…
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The Penny, the Dollar, and the Pound
I’m having some book covers created by David Collins of DC Cover Creations, and I pay in British pounds. I started thinking about the names of various currencies, and what they mean. The penny. Well, pennies are old, and I don’t mean just sort of old. The word has a Proto-Germanic origin and there are…
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What Writing Is (and is not)
Writing is not an arcane activity. You don’t need to be an expert in anything to be able to write. Having good grammar, spelling, and punctuation helps, but as long as you have a story to tell, you can write fiction. You don’t need to take a writing course or follow certain rules. You can…
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A Couple of Great Reasons to Write Fiction
Lots of us love to read fiction, but have you considered writing some? Here are two great reasons why you should. The news is often frightening, confusing, and bad. Some people post on blogs or social media, some write physical letters or e-mails, and some, like me, turn their fear and uncertainty into fiction. Here…
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A Letter to Self-Publishing
Dear Self-Publishing, Please, don’t tear this up before you read it. I know you get a lot of hate mail, but this is a love letter. I think you are probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of the book world. I’ve seen some of the letters you get, and they’re not pretty. No, I…
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How to Overcome the Fear of Plotholes in Your Fiction
Are you afraid of the following: You’ve spent a lot of time crafting a wonderful story, but when you read it over, you find something that doesn’t agree with something else — a plothole. I’m pretty sure it happens to every writer at some point. It’s certainly happened to me. The question isn’t weather writers…
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Why I Plan to Keep on Blogging
My feet have been dragging a little lately. I haven’t been thinking about quitting, but when I came across Read This if You Want to Quit Your Blog by Cristian Mihai from The Art of Blogging, I thought I’d better read it. I did, got inspired to pull myself out of the mud of a…
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Why I Love to Write Letters
Every Wednesday for a while now, I’ve been writing letters. Here’s why: it’s fun. I took the everyday inspiration course from Blogging University, and one of the suggested tasks was to write a letter as a blog post. I did so and then got hooked. Most are humorous, some are serious, and some are both,…
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When and How to Self-Edit Your Fiction
Should you self-edit your fiction? If so, when and how? Yes, every writer should self-edit. To do otherwise is to be untrue to your stories. No, that last statement wasn’t meant as some kind of high-horsed snobbery. Self-edit and revise are synonyms, but self-edit has a further connotation of “doing it all yourself.” Some writers…
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Lousy
It’s interesting how the meaning of words changes over time, but even more so that we don’t often think about the words we use, and where they come from. A remarkably good (or bad) example of this is the word “lousy.” The dictionary definition, or at least the first one, is “remarkably bad,” “poor quality,”…
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3 Tips for Fiction Writers Struggling with Setting
Setting is crucial to creating something your Readers will love, and if you struggle with it, then you’re like me. Getting setting right might be easier if stories took place entirely in one location, but they seldom do, so writers have hard work ahead. We have to constantly change the scenery, move in and out…
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A Letter to Pantsing and Plotting
Dear Pantsing and Plotting, I’m really happy I’ve got y’all as my best friends. If I didn’t, nothing would get written, and my life would be incredibly boring. Pantsing, do you remember that day in August 2017 when we sat down with only the idea of writing a detective novel? I do. The page didn’t…
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Writing Advice – The Long and the Short
Featured image: tranquil lake reflecting house and forest — Photo by Tatiana Syrikova on Pexels.com There’s nothing like sitting down with a thick book or tucking into one on your tablet. But at other times, you probably want something lighter. There’s no reason you can’t have both. Does the idea of writing a novel fill…
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Sober
It’s almost Friday, so I’m thinking about the opposite of sober. I had no idea where the word “sober” came from, so I looked it up; it’s pretty much Latin for not drunk (“without intoxication.”) Well great! I like to learn something I didn’t already know when I research words for these posts. Maybe I…
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Writing Advice – Point of View
Pistol: Why, then the world’s mine oyster. Which I with sword will open. William Shakespeare — The Merry Wives of Windsor, act 2, scene 2 There are no rules about POV. That’s right, there really aren’t any. In this post about Starting NaNoWriMo, I said that I was struggling with third person narration in a…
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New Words
Lately, I’ve been seeing the word “clickbait.” Is it something I was supposed to bite down on? Since I do a writing prompt on Thursday, “clickbait” will be the word I use. I usually like new words, but sometimes it takes me a while to get used to them. Other times, I never do. For…
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Writing Advice – Subject and Object Pronouns
Pronouns can be a problem, and if your book contains many instances of incorrect ones, reading it can feel as frustrating as reading a book full of typos. Here are some sample sentences. Mom bought some oranges for Lisa and I. Mom and me bought some oranges for Lisa. Lisa and I bought some oranges…
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Volume
When looking for a prompt for today’s post, I just picked the first word that popped into my head, which was, “volume.” How much coffee or tea does your cup hold? How loud do you like your music? I like words with multiple meanings. One of the novels I’m working on is about a guy…
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A Letter to Revision
Dear Revision, I’m kind of confused. I’ve always thought that the other half of writing was reading, but you sort of complicate matters. Reading came first, so maybe it’s the older sibling, and writing and revision are a set of younger twins. While we’re at it, where does publishing fit into the family? Is it…
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Writing Advice – Characters
Without characters, stories would tell very little. Would you want to pick up a book and find that the whole thing was nothing but a description of a setting, a world, or several planets? Whether you write sci-fi, fantasy, or romance, your story needs a set of characters. Don’t let the magic, technology, or amazing…
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A Letter to My First Reader
Dear Reader, In January 2020, Wounded Bride was self-published through FriesenPress. One eBook copy was sold in February, so whoever bought it is my first Reader. I want you to know that you were the first person in the whole wide world to take a chance on a book with no reviews; one that had…
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Writing Advice – Tell a Story
There’s a lot of writing advice out there. Following some guidelines, such as the ones in my post about dialog attribution might make your writing more pleasant to read, but don’t let writing advice bog you down. Things can be fixed later. There’s no need to wait until your idea is perfect, or until you’ve…
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Tempo
Today’s post was inspired by this writing prompt: Tempo . I’ve been thinking about this poem lately, so when I read the section in the above post aimed at poets, I thought of it right away. E. J. Pratt’s “The Lee-Shore” is about the Atlantic Ocean, but while drafting A Letter to the Pacific Ocean…
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Writing Advice – Dialog Attribution
You’ve probably heard the phrase “show, don’t tell.” I’d like to show you why I think this is good writing advice when you’re writing dialog. Here are a few sample sentences written solely for this post. “Not again,” she sighed. “My best friend forever doesn’t want to talk to me anymore, and I’m completely and…
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Write about what you know
Lots of people say to write about what you know. This is good advice, or is it? What is “know” anyway? How much would you need to know about something to be considered knowledgeable on that topic, and who decides this? I probably don’t know a great deal about engineering, but I could learn enough…
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Genres: Part 2 – Fantasy
I think that the strength of fantasy is its limitless possibility. You can create places, creatures, and powers that don’t need to be real to be believed. I can do pretty much whatever I want, and I don’t even have to think, is this possible? Anything is possible, and that includes whatever story I want…
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Genres: Part 1 – Detective
On Twitter, I was asked why I write in my particular genre. While Wounded Bride is a detective novel, I like to write in many genres. I’ve decided to answer this question in a series of blog posts, because I would like to talk about many genres, and putting them all in one post would…
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A Lesson Learned about Outlining
My relationship with outlining has always been a little rocky. I’m a Pantser, so I usually just start writing, often with little or no idea about the story I’m going to tell. When I decided to write science fiction for NaNoWriMo, I did a brief outline because I wanted my plot to stay on track.…
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An Update on my NaNoWriMo Novel
Today, I finished the first draft of Be a Movie Star, the second novel I started after finished my first NaNoWriMo draft in two weeks. The second novel took me much longer, but I now have a first draft, and it hit 165K words. I originally called it a romance, but it’s more a family…
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The End
Here’s what I have at the end of NaNoWrimo. A first draft of “On Ice.” A lot of a first draft of “Be a Movie Star.” It took me fourteen days to write “On Ice,” at an average pace of 3,574 words per day for a total of 50,032 words. In sixteen days, I wrote…
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Week Four
After week four, “Be a Movie Star” is 86,989 words. That’s fairly long, and I know it’s going to be a lot of work to revise this thing, but the first draft is not finished yet. There are twenty chapters so far, but I still have a long way to go. It feels like I…
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Week Three
At the end of week two, I had already written 50,000 words and had completed the first draft of “On Ice.” This week, I started a second novel, called “Be a Movie Star.” During the last seven days, I have written 47,426 of it. It’s going a lot faster than “On Ice,” which was science…
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Be a Movie Star
91,464 of 50,000 words written title: Be a Movie Star genre: some kind of family and relationships romance thing personal goal for the project: no violence, and only minor accidents I finished “On Ice” in fourteen days and am starting a second NaNoWriMo project. synopsis: Natasha loves her job, and when she meets Peter, who…
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Week Two
Week one ended with the realization that my word count could only increase if I did some revising. I certianly wasn’t looking forward to it. I like to take the often-given writing advice to put your draft in a drawer for a few weeks or months, and then have a fresh manuscript to work with.…
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Week One
In the first seven days of NaNoWriMo, I have written an average of 4,000 words per day. My novel isn’t finished, but I have reached the end of the story. A lot of details need to be added, so I will spend the next twenty-three days doing that. I know what happens, now I just…
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Starting NaNoWriMo
I was quite nervous, but I got started on Friday. My book took an unexpected detour, and I’ve managed to make up a new word, and am now trying to prevent myself from overusing it. I have an idea of how the story will end. When I revise, I will need to add a lot…
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After You Revise
You’ve worked very hard and finished revising your novel. Isn’t it amazing how long it takes? I’ve been working on a fairly substantial book, and have logged about forty-eight hours of revisions. That’s more than a work week. It’s not finished yet. Writing it was fun, and revising it sometimes is, but I find it…
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The Hardest Part of Writing
For me, it’s not getting the idea that I find difficult. I don’t struggle with the blank page, nor with the first chapter. Sometimes, I do find the middle of the novel a little bit slow, but if I sit on it for a few hours, I usually figure out how to fix it. Writing…
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I Intend to Win
I’m feeling revved about NaNoWriMo. I plan to update a blog post each day with my Word Count. Feeling as ready to win as I am? Why not join NaNoWriMo. You have seventeen days to get ready for November 1! http://www.nanowrimo.org
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Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo
I was too late last year, but this year, I’m going to do NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month is November. I have thirty days to write a novel. My first NaNoWriMo novel will be called “On Ice,” and is a sci-fi romance about a researcher stranded on a very cold planet and the computer expert…
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One day in the Garden
This post isn’t about gardening, or even being outdoors. I didn’t know this two years ago, but people who write without having much in the way of starting ideas are sometimes called Gardeners or Pantsers. (Those who use outlines are often called Architects, Plotters, or Planners.) All I knew was that I wanted to write…