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Milestones are for People Who are Good at To Do Lists
If you know about my job, you’d know that I’m pretty good at following up. Are people good at getting back to me? No. But I don’t care if I have to follow up with you six times. I will. I can be annoyingly persistent. ((Side note: dear all boys I’ve ever matched with on Hinge…not for you, sorry.)) But anyway, I’m great at the follow up. Except, I’ve been looking at some of my posts from last year, and I have a few “halfway check in” posts that never saw a part two. Most have stayed in my drafts, but there are a few plain old “recurring” type posts…
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In This House, We Love a Good Trope
Tropes. Tears. Tattlestar Galactica–wait, that’s not right. Look, we as writers all want to be edgy. We don’t want to lay into tropes and archetypes and the same old, same old. Things are tired, and they’re not fun because we just feel like copycats. There are so many books and movies and stories and art out there that all feel the same, but there’s still somehow so much that’s new and fresh. Honestly, how do those creators do it? Of course, there’s the whole “subverting” tropes thing. Stories exist without those kinds of things. I suppose it’s not that hard, but also…it is. That being said, you’re lying if you…
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Halfway Through NaNoWriMo Check In
Well, folks, we’re halfway through National Novel Writing Month, and I must say: what a ride it’s been so far. Not to brag but definitely to toot my own horn, I’ve hit 42,000 words as of today. Do you know how wild that is???? I do. Because let me take you on a journey of how long it’s taken me to write my other novels: 1. A little over 3 years. Started my second year of high school and finished some time in my first year of college. 2. About 2 1/2 years. Started my first year of college and finished toward the end of my third year. 3. 2-ish…
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Pros and Cons: Handwriting First Drafts
There are many different ways to write a book—I think that was clear in my Pantsing vs. Plotting post. That’s more on the process side, but there’s also what kind of devices you use to write with: computers, various programs within computers, handwriting in notebooks, an Alphasmart (thanks, Ally Carter), etc. I’ve started a few stories on my computer, but I’ve only ever finished novels (the first draft) by handwriting them. For me, it’s easier to keep track of certain things, write notes in margins, and quite frankly, it’s pretty therapeutic. I’m not opposed to writing on a computer, of course, but it’s not the long-game for me the first…
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What Taylor Swift Means to Me as a Writer
January 31, 2020. Miss Americana premieres on Netflix. And I’m feeling a whole load of emotions about it. Think what you want about Taylor Swift. I know she can be a polarizing public figure, and most people have very strong opinions, love her or hate her. Despite a very brief period in time where I was tired of the drama that surrounded her (I know, it was brief like I said, and I am SORRY), I have been firmly a lover. She’s been an inspiration for me in a lot of ways, and I think to take what people have said about her and to continue to create art in…
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Pantsing vs. Plotting: Thoughts on Writing Style from Someone with No Authority on the Matter
Something writers get asked a lot about is their process, and that’s one of the most open-ended questions you can ask. There are only a million kinds of answers: where you write, how long you write, what kind of environment you write in, and so on. But they’re really asking how you write. Do you plan everything out? Do you just start on a blank page and go? There’s plenty of answers for just these, too. But there’s no cut and dry method to being a great writer. You have to find what works for you. I’ll preface this by saying that maybe you shouldn’t listen to me, since my novels are…